Blue Crow
by Yamistar
Summary: AU. Yuusuke's compulsive gambling sends Hiei in to a world of prostitutes, vampires, revenge, and betrayal unlike any he could have experienced while living with his abusive father. Yaoi, NC, OOCness
1. Tainting

Blue Crow

Prologue: Tainting

Summary: AU. A young man's gambling causes his best friend to be taken in and shown the ways of Feudal Era prostitutes. But, a lonely man seeks out this half-breed angel, and saves him from the evils.

A/n: It's been a long time since I've done one of these things. And man do I need to quit using the story codes!

Rating: R Author: Yamistar

Genres: Romance, Angst Type: Alternate Universe

Warnings: Shonen-ai, Lime, Anal, Oral, N/C, Voy, Bond, Cross Dress, GB (gender bender), Vamp, major AU, slight MC (mind control)

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH and co. But, my own characters I do. And I don't care if they don't have Japanese names in the country of Japan! Get off me! bashes keyboard Opps….

TAINTING

A great din sounded in the alleyway as the three men dragged a short man out of a small house, and into the backseat of the car. The young man struggled and cried out for help while kicking and flailing his arms about. He called out for his friend, who had caused the trouble in the first place, but he didn't reply. Yuusuke stumbled out to the backdoor of the house, his head hanging low. He stood in silence as the three men threw his best friend into the car and climbed in after him. He raised his eyes to stare at the darkened windows, watching as the car moved back and forth, caused by Hiei's struggling, but it faded quickly. A forth man appeared behind Yuusuke, both of them just inside the house.

"You'll never see him alive again, you know," the man said lowly.

Yuusuke narrowed his eyes, but kept his mouth shut, for Hiei's sake. He didn't need to cause a scene, though no one was in the alleyway. This had happened to many people in the run down city. Almost no innocent was left untouched in the city that still obeyed the rules made by long ago. Yuusuke had a gambling problem, and since he had no wife to speak of, Hiei had to pay the price for Yuusuke's foolishness.

"Please, isn't there some other way to do this? Does he really have to suffer for me?" Yuusuke asked.

"This is what happens when you gamble, Urameshi san. You should have thought of the consequences before you sacrificed the young one's fate for your own gain or lose. Whichever way perceive it," the man said back, without mercy.

Shoving Yuusuke out of his way, the tall man pulled his sunglasses from a pocket inside his coat and slid them onto his face. A gentle rain began to pour down, a gentle mist that cooled the pollution filled air.

"Togoro!"

Togoro stopped, his hand on the car door handle, and he stood, waiting for Yuusuke to finish.

"There must be some other way. Let me take his place," Yuusuke pleaded to the tall man.

Togoro sighed as he pulled the car door open, not bothering to answer Yuusuke's question, and slid onto the seat, closing the door behind him.

Yuusuke narrowed his stinging eyes as he lowered his head again. 'It's not fair. It's just not fair,' Yuusuke screamed in his head as he sank to his knees. Why did Hiei have to suffer for him? It was so stupid! Having to follow a law that was made hundreds of years ago. But, it happened to almost everyone in the city. It wasn't a big city, but there was almost no one left without an empty space in their heart. Or in their beds, for that matter. Because of the law, there were enough prostitutes to go around for every man, woman, and child 1. Though, there weren't many children that had gone untouched by the evils of the officials that ran the town with an iron fist.

'Now Hiei has become one of them,' Yuusuke though, sickened at the idea of **his** angel being touched by another man. They had hid their relationship well. Beyond prostitutes, which were the Untouchables of India, homosexuality was frowned upon greatly, for a run down city in Japan. Even to the naked eye, the city looked like some parallel universe to the area around it. The city known as Blue Crow was infamous for it crawling with fugitives and anything having ties with the world "illegal." Foreigners that shouldn't have been in the country were there. One could find anything and everything in Blue Crow.

Yuusuke looked up just in time to see the car turn out of the alleyway, and onto a main road. It's red, rear lights glared at him. Mocking him. Teasing him. The rain had picked up, and it came down in waves. The falling water mixed in with the clear tears that ran down Yuusuke's face as he stood, his clothes soaked and his skin cold, to turn around and head back inside his broken home.

A/n: There ya go. Prologue.

1: I was referring to the law, okay I don't know if it was a law, get over it, that if a man went into debt from gambling blah, blah, blah, he had to give up his wife to the whore house. That's what I meant, but when you're being blunt, it takes out all the sadness of being turned into a whore over night. So there.

God, am I moody or what? Sorry. Ja!


	2. Fresh Meat

Blue Crow

Chapter 1: Fresh Meat

A/n: Looks like this story isn't going to get much praise. _shrugs_ Oh well. Doesn't matter to me. I've learned a valuable lesson! Don't stay up till midnight, type up a prologue to a story, post it without thoroughly checking it, and then try to change your mistakes. Not a good idea. Never again, damnit.

Cold Toenails: I'm glad you decided to pick this thing up. I might have to get this to you late, thought. I normally type up the first five chapters so I'm not stuck with getting the new story updated late. Gomen if you get grounded before I finish the other three chapters. I feel this is going to be one chapter a day, at the most.

kikira-san: I was either going to have Yuusuke have a gambling problem, or a very high drinking tab at some bar, or something like that. But, I thought the gambling would be more appropriate for him. This story is going to have a slow start. I know it. I can **feel** it!

kit-kit: Well….thanks. Slow going though. I warn you now! If I haven't updated in like…so many odd number of weeks, don't give up on me! It's going to take me forever to try and type up this thing. And that's while balancing all kinds of stuff.

Lil miss Komugi: Thanks for the comments. I think this story will be a good one too, but it'll be difficult for me to balance the musings I get (which happen right before I go to bed. Bless their little teeth that the sink into me) and trying to get enough sleep at night. School's starting again. Damn it all to hell!

Kurama's Lucky Dice: It'll be rough going, but I'll get by. Thanks.

FRESH MEAT

"He's too young to be here."

"He's a little cutie, ain't he?"

"I wish you two would stop that crap. Whose turn is it to break in the new meat?"

"Yours."

"….Damnit."

Voices. There were three of them. The last one sounded like it had more of a manly hint to it, but the other two sounded female. At least, that's what Hiei **thought** he heard. He couldn't have made out left from right if he had needed to. The ruby eyed male didn't even want to think about what was going to happen when he opened his eyes. The last thing he could recall was three men dragging him into a car and sticking a needle in his arm. He had blacked out at that point. With his head pounding, Hiei tried to open his eyes, but a bright light made him flinch away and he squeezed his eyes shut again. That's when the voices started again.

"Now look what you two gone done!" the manly voice hissed. "He's wakin' up."

"Ohhh! But I want to know what his name is!" a girly, high pitched voice retorted with a giggle.

"Forget his name; I want to know the color of his eyes," a velvety voice commented to the other two.

Wrinkling his nose, Hiei murmured, half awake, "It's Hiei." The bed Hiei lay on shook, and he instantly regretted opening his mouth, because the one who had asked what his name was squealed like a virgin school girl, and screeched, "Ain't he got the manliest voice! 'Deeper then yours, Kasper!" Kasper, who Hiei only guessed was the next voice, growled and thundered, "Get off the god damned bed!" The bed Hiei lay upon then shook again and the male forced his eyes open and darted them around in a slight panic.

At the end of the bed, were two figures that were tangled within the arms and legs of each other's bodies. The larger figure looked to be female, by the breasts that were visible that were covered by a white button up shirt, but a five o'clock shadow, mustache, and choppy brown locks gave Hiei considerable doubt to the gender of the larger figure. The smaller figure looked female and sounded female. She wore an orange shirt that only covered her flat chest—the color which matched her bright orange hair—and a pair of tight, spandex shorts that covered the top half of her thighs. There stood a third figure, staring at the other two and shaking its head every few seconds. A pair of breasts also resided on the body, and the voice sounded female enough, but the way the body curved gave enough reason for Hiei to also doubt this figure's gender as well. This "female" wore a navy blue button up shirt with what looked like to be neither pants nor shorts, for that matter. The shirt hung too low on her body to tell if she wore undergarments.

"Honestly, you two. It's like a game of cat and mouse every time you two are near each other," the alto voiced figure rubbed the back of her neck and closed her eyes.

Hiei narrowed his eyes at the three figures, and gently pushed himself into a sitting position. "Who are you three, and where am I?" he demanded. The two wrestling at the end of the bed halted in their rough housing, and the third figure opened her eyes to stare at Hiei.

"Well, it's your two's faults that he's awake. And Glen was right, Kasper, it is your turn to "break in the new meat"," the third figure scolded.

The larger of the two at the end of the bed, Hiei believed him to be Kasper, growled and threw Glen away and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You 'ought ta do it. You're prettier than me," Kasper mumbled. The third figure shook her head and said sternly, "No. I did the last one, and Glen isn't allowed to do this yet. We alternate back and forth, you know that," and then she paused and leaned closer to the bed and stared at Hiei. "All though, I wouldn't mind, I guess. He is a pretty, little thing." Kasper grinned and grabbed Glen, who was sitting on her knees and chin with her buttocks in the air, and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Hiei glanced back and forth between the door and the tall woman that had her eyes transfixed on him. Crossing his legs in front of him, Hiei avoided the other being's eyes and closed his, being stubborn.

"Julia. It's Julia."

Hiei cracked open an eye to glance over at Julia, before he quickly closed it again. "I didn't ask for your name." He opened an eye again, just to see Julia smile and climb onto the bed he sat on. Opening the other eye, Hiei stared at the woman as she crawled closer to him, a predatory gleam in her cobalt blue eyes.

Finally reaching her prey, Julia came to a halt and reached up to untie her long, black hair from the ponytail she had it confined to. Her soft, raven locks spilled onto her back and the sheets that covered the bed, and she smiled again at Hiei.

"This might hurt, when we get to the end. But I'd rather break you in now, than have some drunken buffoon taking you for the first time," Julia murmured as she reached for Hiei's pants.

The red eyes male recoiled from her touch and hissed through his teeth, "What kind of woman tries to be dominate over a man?"

Julia paused for a second and bit her bottom lip. Her shoulders shook and she tried to hold in the laughter that threatened to bubble up from her throat. She finally couldn't hold it in anymore, and she threw back her head and laughed until she began to gasp for breath.

Hiei cheeks, neck, and ears turned a bright red from embarrassment and he yelled over her laughing, "I asked you what kind of woman tries to be dominate over a man!"

Julia calmed down and covered her mouth as she said with laughter in her voice, "You really don't know what I am, do you?" She smiled hungrily at the black haired man in front of her and she pushed on Hiei's shoulders and pinned him to the mattress.

Hiei growled deep in his throat as he hissed at Julia, "Kisama! Release me!" His right eye almost twitched when he heard Julia giggle. Hiei ground his teeth together and squirmed beneath the woman's thighs that hugged his waist.

Julia's eyes gleamed as she leaned over the petty male and whispered into his ear in a huskier voice, "I'm a man, Hiei. Can't you tell?" And to prove the fact that "he" was a man, Julia kneed open Hiei's legs and pressed his growing erection into the smaller male's hips. "See?" Julia murmured.

Hiei's eyes widened as he felt the hard appendage being pressed against his body. Hiei tried to wiggle out from under the transsexual, but was trapped by him. His eyes showing just a hint of fear, Hiei asked, "Are you a man or a woman? Which one are you?" The young man flailed his arms about, trying to push Julia off him, but the man-turned-half-woman crawled further up his prey and sat on Hiei's hips and pinned the small male's arms above his head.

Breathing a bit heavily, Julia ground his rear into the small man under him and said clearly, "I'm neither. I'm half woman, and half man. Can't you tell?" Julia transferred Hiei's wrists into one hand to free one of his own, and he reached up to begin unbuttoning his shirt. Julia watched with a dark gleam in his eyes as Hiei struggled and bucked his hips up try and displace him. Julia, having undone all of the bothersome button on his shirt with one hand, pushed the two pieces of it off of his shoulders and revealed to the petty male beneath him the two breasts that he had grown himself 1.

Julia reached above Hiei's head to the contained wrists held in one of his hands, and grabbed both of them, one in each hand.

Hiei stared at the man sitting on him, and his eyes widened when he say the breast on the male body. Hiei's eyes traveled over the pale skin that covered Julia's body, but he gagged when he saw the erected penis jut out from a bush of curly, black hair at the base of the organ. The red eyed male glared at Julia, narrowing his eyes in the process, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "You're sick."

Julia frowned for the first time since they had been alone and he said with a hint of anger in his voice, "Well, Hiei, you're going to be just like the rest of us once your customers start coming in." Julia bent over his prey and silenced any retort with a kiss.

Hiei's eyes widened again as he felt the soft lips upon his. The last time he had been touched like that was when he was still with Yuusuke. The thought of the brown eyes beauty made Hiei recoil from Julia's foreign touch even more.

Julia broke away from the unresponsive man beneath him and frowned sadly. "Look, Hiei, this is the easiest way to get used to being touched. Even if you don't want this, it's going to be much easier if you learn how to enjoy it now than with your first man."

Hiei turned his head away, it resting on a pillow, and did not reply to the black haired transsexual atop him. He didn't want any of what was happening, but deep down, he knew it was unavoidable. Hiei staid still as Julia made short work of his shirt and pants and did not protest when he felt the other man's lingering touches on sensitive part of his body. To Hiei, it felt like living with his father all over again.

A/n: Dun, dun, dun! I'm sorry if it bothered some of you if I switched between calling Julia and she and then a he. I really don't know how to write stories where the identities of the characters are unknown. I guess this isn't an all knowing narrator, is it? Teehee! See what troubles Hiei gets into next chapter. Oh! Btw, Glen is a little girl, and Kasper is a man. He's just like Julia, only he doesn't like to act girly. He's what you might call a transsexual tomboy! Teehee! Ja!

1: I believe that men can grow their own beasts by taking certain pills that makes their chests grow. Don't ask for technical terms and/or names, I'm just a fic author here,


	3. Whore House

Blue Crow

Chapter 2: Whore House

A/n: This is going too, frickin slow! God, do I hate this slowly developing story thingy! Drivin' me nuts! Oh well. The good pace somethin, somethin, somethin wins the race. Blah, blah, blah!

Cold Toenails: Cool. I might have had a few mistakes in that chapter, but you don't care! More to the people that don't give a shit! Weeeee! But gosh do you remind me of one of my friends. She's all…I don't know, but you remind me of her. She doesn't care either! More to the people who don't care! Weeeee!

kikira-san: Thanks. I've read a lot of old things, and they were really good, but most of them never made it past the first three chapters or so. It was really annoying too. Cause some really good authors have just….disappeared off the face of the earth! I can remember some of my favorite authors and I never see any of their stories that are incomplete ever finished. Kinda irks me. But I have problems following up on my reviews too. Teehee! Thanks.

HieiWannabe: I did not make Yuusuke evil! That's just something I could see he would do. At least I tried to keep him in character. I could have made him cry, but I didn't. How do ya like those oranges, carla? Hahaha! Oranges….

kit-kit: No! He's not gonna be a transsexual. I'm getting' to that point….I think. But he's keepin' that oh so flat chest, and I ain't cuttin' of his weenie! Hahahahaha! Weenie….But no time to laugh about it now! Read. _insert chuckling in the background here_ XDDDD Sugar time!

WHORE HOUSE

Loud thumps and screaming startled Hiei from his sleep, and his eyes shot open. He noticed that the light that had showered the room in light the night before had been turned off, and the shades were pivoted to where sunlight from the morning sun didn't shine into his eyes. Hiei blinked to try and get the sleep out of his eyes without having to use his hands, but to no avail. Wincing heavily and twisting his face in pain, Hiei maneuvered his body so that he faced the wall which the sunshine shone on, his back facing the window. His entire lower body screamed in pain from the rough night with Julia. The transsexual had taken Hiei and had given the small male his first taste of his life as a prostitute. Hiei thought the experience was akin to waking up the next morning with a bad taste in his mouth that wouldn't go away, no matter how many times he brushed his teeth.

Hiei was suddenly startled again as the door to the room he had slept in burst open, and a giggling Glen jumped onto the bed and threw her arms around his neck.

"'Morning!" Glen shouted into the red eyed male's ear.

Hiei gasped from the sound of Glen's voice being so close to his ear. Hiei sat up some, but his body froze as a white hot blot shot up and down his spine. He arched his back and opened his mouth to let out a loud yell.

Glen pulled away from the yelling man and arched an eye brow at him. Finally, when he calmed down and fell back onto the bed, Glen happily lying on his chest, and said softly, "New boy's ass hurts from play."

Hiei had squeezed his eyes shut from the pain that had rocketed up and down his nerves in his spine, but then he cracked one open just a bit to growl between his teeth, "Baka…"

Glen's face lit up in a huge smile and she screamed into his ear again. The little girl seemed content with lying on top of the red eyed boy, but Kasper came running into the room, still in his floral nightgown he wore every night—given the chance he did **not** sleep naked—and pounced on top of Glen, whom was still on top of Hiei.

Hiei's pupils dilated and he opened his mouth up wide to let out a loud scream, when all he could manage was an airless gasp. With the two other beings on top of him, his rear end had been ground into the mattress, which had caused some of the skin that had already been stretched to the max stretch even more. Hiei felt that the skin on the inside that was already stretched almost to the breaking point would give way, and his bowels would be flooded with blood.

"Kasper, Glen! Get off of Hiei, now."

Glen and Kasper stopped wrestling with each other and turned their heads towards the door to see Julia standing with a stern look on his face. The transvestite was adorned in a white button up shirt that wasn't quite as long as the one he had worn the pervious night, so he wore a pair of ladies underwear. Though, still retaining his penis, he hung out just a tad.

Taking advantage of Kasper looking in the other direction, Glen slipped from his grasp and darted out of the room, running past Julia's legs. Kasper growled and jumped off of the bed and gave chase after Glen. Though, he had to stop so that Julia could get out of the way. Giving Kasper a knowing look, Julia stepped out of the rounder prostitute's way and gave a small smile as he watched Kasper chase Glen.

After Kasper and Glen had left the room, Hiei had lied, motionless, on the bed; still frozen in pain. He had closed his eyes, and was suddenly thankful for Julia's arrival. He had thought about being cold to Julia for being rough with him the previous night, but Hiei had rethought what Julia had done, and finally admitted to himself that Julia was only trying to make his new life easier for him.

Julia turned to the motionless being on the bed and smiled. "Tough, isn't it?" he asked.

Hiei cracked open an eye to glance at Julia, before he closed it again and murmured, "I hate it." His right eye twitched, even though it was closed, when he heard Julia's chuckling. "What's so funny about you fucking my brains out, and then the next morning you **not** expecting my ass to hurt? Are you retarded or something?" But the brutish language only made Julia chuckle even more. Thinking a threat would make the man shut up, Hiei mumbled, "I'll kill you for this."

Julia stopped chuckling and took quick steps to reach the end of the bed and crawl onto it. Once he had Hiei beneath him, Julia raised his hand back and brought it down on Hiei's left cheek, causing his head to be thrown to the right.

The red eyed man opened both eyes wide and turned his head back to stare at Julia. The man's face was calm and his expression was emotionless as he said, "I could just not help you. You could deal with being fucked as any man pleases on your own **without** training." Then he paused and gave Hiei almost a sickeningly smile and began again, "Would you rather me do that?"

Hiei glare up at Julia and turned his head to the left to protect his bruising and reddening cheek from the sight of the other, and gave a monosyllabic, "Che."

Julia's gentle, motherly smile returned as he rolled off of Hiei and laid down, next to the man. Julia noticed that Hiei did not turn towards him or try to make any efforts to start a conversation. So, Julia took advantage of that.

"Why are you here?" he asked without hesitation.

Hiei opened his eyes to stare at the wall across from him, and he muttered, "That's none of your business."

Julia frowned and asked again, "Why are you here? The least you could do is try to be a little friendly with the rest of us." His voice then softened as he said, quieter, "We're all you have now."

Hiei continued to stare at the wall and made no movement to reply to Julia's question.

Becoming a bit frustrated, Julia sat up and looked around the room. It was familiar. It had been his room before he had become the leader of the whores on the floor they were on. Deciding to at least get Hiei familiar with his surroundings, Julia began to describe the house, without even looking back to see if Hiei was paying an attention.

"The whole building is split up into floors," he began. "The entranceway is for customers picking out their company and paying for however much the whore costs to be with per hour or so. Prostitutes working to pay off debt of their own or someone else's do not get to choose how much they are bought for a night. The runner of the whole house, Togoro, decides on their price tag. The first floor is used as a place where men can drink sake and spend time with their company, but nothing intimate. The younger whores are stationed on that floor and the one above it, but Glen, the youngest here, she's eleven years of age, works on the same floor as Kasper and myself. We never did figure that one out"

Julia looked over his shoulder a bit to see Hiei staring at him. Not taking too long of a pause, Julia went on.

"The second floor is used for just females, and their customers that want privacy. Most of them down there play the part of coy school girls out of Tokyo, but that's not where you are going. The third floor is for boys only. Women looking for company use them. These are young boys around the age of fourteen or so. Not one of them is over sixteen, though. Once a whore turns sixteen, he or she is moved up to the fourth level of the house. Understand so far?"

Flustered that he had been discovered listening, Hiei jerked his head back to the position is was previously in, and muttered, "How do you know how old I am?"

Julia smiled back at the flustered man, and he said with a hint of innocence in his voice, "Because you didn't react like a teenager to my ministrations."

Hiei blushed a crimson red and tried to turn his head farther away from Julia without having to move the rest of his body.

Smiling at the man next to him, Julia continued.

"As I said before, the fourth level is used for whores over sixteen. But once a whore reaches the age of forty, if she or he is still here, they're moved up to the fifth level. The fourth level is split up into two parts. One sector for females, and another for males. It's the largest level of the house. The fifth level is for the older whores. Those men and women don't get many customers, but I guess they prefer it that way. Then there is the sixth level. That level is for homosexual companies only. Most customers act as if they were heading to the fifth level, but say they got lost if caught snooping around trying to find the sixth floor."

Julia gave a sigh and pulled his knees up to his chest and finished his explanation.

"Finally, on the seventh level of the house, there's us. The trannys. Not much to tell. If a whore has breast and a dick, it's sent up here. Most flat chested girls are here too. The "other" kinds of whores are here too. Fat ones, too skinny ones, mentally ill ones, and all kinds of others."

Julia gave another sigh as he mumbled, sadly, "The rest of them treat us up here as if we aren't human."

Hiei glared at the man sitting next to him and muttered, "Not my problem."

Julia turned back to stare at Hiei with sadness in his eyes and he said, "Don't you have any compassion? Don't you know what if feels like to be cast aside because you are different?"

Julia's sob story angered Hiei and in a small burst of rage, he pulled himself into a sitting position and yelled at the blue eyed man, "I've never lived a moment without that feeling! Don't talk to me as if I were some happy, little boy that lived in a good city with a good home!" And he tossed himself back onto the bed and squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

Julia sat in a slight shock for what seemed like hours before he reached out to the red eyed man and said softly, "Hiei, I didn't…"

"Go to hell, Julia!" the raven haired male roared at the other as he flipped himself onto his stomach with some difficulty and buried his face into the pillow once supporting his head.

Julia pulled his hand away and stood up from the bed. Not turning around to say anything back to Hiei, Julia opened the door to the room and walked out, leaving Hiei alone, and softly closed the door behind him.

A/n: Tada! Chapter 2. Something big is gonna happen next chapter! So beware! Dun, dun, dun! Teaser! _insert evol laugh here_


	4. Goodnight Julia

Blue Crow

Chapter 3: Goodnight Julia

A/n: I **love** that song, from Cowboy Bebop! God, I just can't get enough of that song! But that's not why I named Julia the way I did. I just like the name Julia.

Cold Toenails: Here, here! I'm wacky too, so I'd be in that general area too. Pixie sticks…._drools_ It's been years since I've had one of those things! I'm gonna ask my mom to buy me some. And those candy sticks that look like cigarettes, I like those too….I'm supposed to be thankin' ya, and I'm talking about candy! But, candy is good! XD

kit-kit: You don't say much, da ya? Oh well. That's alright.

Lil miss Komugi: I'm glad you like it so far. But, there won't really be any other characters from the gang. I'm going to have Kit in here (eventually _sweatdrops_), and someone else is gonna be in here, but I can't tell ya who. It'll ruin the story for ya. Kuronue will be in this story though!

GOODNIGHT JULIA

Julia and Hiei continued their training to get Hiei ready for his first customers, but ever since the argument they had, Julia and his trainee where on slightly rough terms. Hiei was ice to Julia's fire, and always tried to avoid conversation. Their nightly "romps in the hay" felt awkward and distant. Both were reluctant to participate.

On the day just before Hiei began to take customers, he finally left the seventh floor of the house, and traveled down seven flights if stairs to get to the lobby. On his way down, Hiei didn't waste time exploring, but some of the non-occupied whores, who stood outside their bedroom doors while waiting for company, whispered to one another about the newest on floor seven.

"He's really cute!"

"Look at that hair! Don't you think it looks exotic?"

"Such pretty eyes. Wonder what they look like filled with passion." At that comment, Hiei had glared in the direction the manly voice had come from on the sixth level of the house.

He had heard many comments upon other people seeing him. Apparently, everyone knew everyone else on their floor, possibly even in the whole house. Hiei knew that he was a stranger to the house, be he didn't know that everyone else would **notice**.

When Hiei reached the lobby area of the house, he was surprised at how busy it was, despite how early it was in the morning; eleven a.m. There were men and women—and maybe some that could have been both—that were browsing printed out pictures of different whores that had been tacked to the wall. There wasn't enough wall space on the lobby walls to post everyone, but the best whore, sometimes the most expensive, of each floor was posted. Also, Hiei noticed, that the posters also had written on them rules about each whore. What a customer could and could not do to them, what they liked and disliked, and some even had their own hours on them. Hiei glared at the many customers waiting to find their right pick for however long their money could buy the time for.

"Well, you look mighty fine there. The picture really doesn't do you justice," a voice said from behind Hiei.

The red eyed man spun around to find a rather tall man with long, black, flowing raven locks that spilled down his back and almost reached his knees. He was adorned in a pair of black pants and a black coat. The edges of the undone collar that showed the inside look to be violet. The man before Hiei had narrowed, predatory violet eyes and a thin line for a mouth. His skin was pale, and clashed brightly with his black attire.

Hiei gave the stranger a dark glare that should have told the man to stay away, but either the man was blind or stupid. '_Maybe even both_,' Hiei thought with an inward smirk.

The tall, dark man approached Hiei with long strides of his long legs, and reached the much shorter man within seconds. Hiei didn't let his warning glare down as he tilted his head back some to stare up at the stranger.

"So, my little man, how much should I buy you for?" the man asked with amusement evident in his voice.

Hiei glared again before turning around to head back for the stair case that lead to the first floor.

"I'm not for sale," he said lowly.

But his lingering left wrist was caught in a vice like grip, and he was pulled back. Hiei grabbed at the offending arm and dug his nails into it. He didn't get any reaction, to his dissatisfaction, and he turned his head to stare at the man over his shoulder.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Hiei snarled up at the stranger.

The man smiled as he leaned down to whisper into Hiei's ear, "My name is Karasu."

The name meant nothing to Hiei. He wasn't familiar with it, so he shouldn't have been bothered by the man, but he had been. Plus, Karasu had laid a hand upon him; Hiei viewed this as a challenge, so that made him a bit angry. No one had been allowed to touch Hiei since he had escaped the evils of his abusive and child molesting ways of his father, besides Yuusuke. And the was the only willing way he would be tolerated to be touched and enjoy what was given to him. Julia was not a part of that small, single named list because he didn't ask to be sent to a whore house so that Yuusuke didn't wind up in jail. It was something Hiei was doing for Yuusuke, as Yuusuke would do it for him.

Hiei narrowed his eyes and snarled again, "That fascinating. What gives you the right to touch me?"

Karasu turned Hiei around so that they were staring at each other, and he said with sickening smile on his face, "You are one of the newer ones. You obviously haven't learned your place yet, **whore**."

Hiei's eyes widened when Karasu called him a whore. Since he had been with Yuusuke, **no one** had ever called him a whore.

"And what makes you think you have the balls to call me a whore?" Hiei hissed between his ground together teeth.

Hiei was on the verge of raising a fist to the black haired man, when suddenly he was ripped from Karasu's grasp and lifted slightly off his feet with a sharp, right jerk of his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Togoro standing with his flat palm still raised in the position it had when slapped across Hiei's cheek.

Hiei fell onto his right side and he pushed himself up. Making sure to not touch his cheek, Hiei ground his teeth together again, and growled threateningly, "Kisama!" The angered ruby eyed man jumped up and made out to jump at the large, muscled man, when he was tackled to the floor again by a heavy mass.

Struggling to get whomever it had been that had jumped on him, Hiei heard a familiar voice scream at him to calm down. It was Kasper. The whore had been on his way up to the seventh floor with his bought company for a few hours, when he had seen Togoro slap Hiei to the floor. Instantly knowing that the foul-mouthed, hot tempered new meat would react to being kicked around, Kasper had excused himself from leading his man up to his floor, and had stopped Hiei from making a large mistake.

Kasper reached up, behind Hiei's neck and pinched him there, to knock him out and stopped the energy filled man from struggling and moving about. Hiei's movements stopped gradually, and he finally stopped moving after a while, and lied still, beneath Kasper's weight.

Getting off the smashed boy, Kasper picked him up and began carrying him away. The conversation Togoro started with the black haired stranger made Kasper slow down his steps.

"I'm sorry for the boy's insolence, sir. He's still in training and won't be ready until midnight," Togoro rumbled in his deep voice.

Karasu's violet eyes followed Kasper's back and he purred, "That's quite alright. I will just come back later." He turned away from Togoro without another word, and exited the building.

Kasper raised an eye brow at the seductive hint in Karasu's voice, but ignored it and began climbing the flight of stairs, completely forgetting his customer.

Hiei didn't wake up from his unconscious state until just before midnight. Glen was bouncing up and down on his bed, ordering him to wake up.

"The sun's not up, but you must wake up!" she chanted over and over in singsong.

Hiei growled and tried to swing at Glen, but she was too fast for him. So, he rolled over onto his side and pulled the covers up to his chin and growled, "Go away, bothersome child! I'm trying to sleep."

Glen stopped her bouncing and chanting, and she crawled up to sit on Hiei's upturned side. She leaned over to whisper into his ear, "Julia is going bye-bye."

Hiei's eyes shot open and he sat up so fast that it knocked Glen from her perch, and onto the floor. "What did you say?"

Hiei jumped after Glen and held her close by the collar of her shirt, and he barked in her face, "What do you mean Julia is going away?"

"Not away! Bye-bye!" Glen replied.

Hiei glared at the child and said between his teeth, ""Bye-bye" then."

"Some man with long, dark blue hair is buying her bye-bye," Glen said sadly.

Hiei eyes widened again and he released the child and made a dash for the door to get down to the lobby to hopefully get some intelligent answers. Hiei raced down the seven flights of stairs, but before he reached the stairs, he had to shove people out of the way that were in the hallways, all of the whores gossiping to each other what had happened while the man was asleep.

"Bastards! Get out of my way!" Hiei shouted to all the gossiping men and women alike as he tried to shove past them. They all parted to give him a straight away path to the next flight of stairs, and he jumped down them to get to his destination quicker. He hoped to catch Julia somewhere in the lobby and figure out what was going on.

Finally, after pushing through the crowd of level one whores, Hiei reached the doors of the building. Two men grabbed his arms before he could run out of the building, and whacked him in the back of the head. Hiei's eyes widened before they dimmed and he almost blacked out for the second time that day. He refused to be forced into submissiveness though, and he raised his head to watch Julia step up to the opened rear door of a black car. It had begun to rain, too.

"J…Julia!" Hiei rasped out, his voice hoarse from running down the seven flights of stairs, and from being conked on the back of his head.

Julia didn't pay any attention to Hiei's call, and he stepped inside the car and the door was shut for him by the driver of the car.

Hiei stared at the spot Julia had been standing at as he was dragged back into the building's lobby area. He was handed into the arms of someone, Kasper again, and the man carried the silent boy back up to their floor.

A/n: Bum, bum, bum! Cliffy! Really, I would have added some rape to this chapter, but I'm too tired to type anymore. I'm dying, and I don't feel like dealin' with men screwing poor Hiei right now. That's for my fantasies that this story was born from! Ja!


	5. Beneath the Corner Street Lamp

Blue Crow

Chapter 4: Beneath the Light of the Corner Street Lamp

A/n: God do I hate back pain. Does anybody else hate back pain? 'Cause I know I do! I hate sitting in uncomfortable chairs too. Alright, enough staling. Here's your next installment. You paid $19.99 for this, so here ya go. Teehee!

Cold Toenails: I have two left feet. But I got my pixie sticks! W00t! But I came up with this crazy idea. Pixie powder is made from the Pixie people's crap! Teehee! XD But, I might be able to e-mail the song to you if you wanted. Have you ever watched Cowboy Bebop before? Awesome anime. But, about the song, if you don't mind receiving attachments from people, I can probably send the song to you. Hope you kick everyone's ass at dancing! XD

kit-kit: Yea, I know. But, I think Julia needed a quick exit. I just couldn't do anything else with him. I might put him back in later, if I don't kill everyone else! _bashes head in to desk_ I'm evil. Evil plot twists await you!

BENEATH THE LIGHT OF THE CORNER STREET LAMP

Karasu's white teeth seemed to gleam in the darkened room as he flinted forward and grabbed Hiei by the front of his shirt. The door closed behind the shorter man on its own with a thundering crash. Hiei didn't hear any voices outside the door that might have belonged to Kasper. He knew that Kasper hadn't been very far from the entrance to the room. He had hoped that maybe the man would turn around and see that he had been ambushed by the tall and dark Karasu. But, there was no sign that Kasper was going to come bursting through the door and save Hiei from the man. He would have to rough it.

Karasu drew his prey towards the bed that had been shadowed in moonlight. Hiei caught a glimpse of something reflect the moonlight off it as he was pinned down and his arms held above his head. A pair of handcuffs dangled from a wooden plank in the headboard. Seeing the restraints, Hiei began to thrash about to try and displace the darkly clothed man above him.

Karasu glared at the resisting whore below him and raised his flat palm back and smacked it across Hiei's cheek. For the second time that week, Hiei's head was jerked to the side by the force of being smacked. Hiei was still for a long amount of time before his body went limp. Karasu stared down at the man beneath him, wondering what he was up to, before he raised up the two captured wrists in his hands and secured them with the handcuffs.

Hiei cast his eyes away from the face of the man above him. He didn't want to look him in the eye. Such cold eyes, colder than his own, were burning with lust and an odd desire in them that Hiei couldn't name. The red eyed man winced heavily as his shirt was torn from his body and thrown somewhere in the room. That was the only one he had. Hiei hoped that Karasu wouldn't do the same to his pants.

Karasu grazed his eyes and finger nails down the newly bared flesh. His eyes followed the red scratch marks made by his nails. The marks seemed to glow beneath the moonlight, and he bent over his trapped prey to trace the marks with his tongue. Hiei had hissed when he had been scratched, but when he felt them being touched by a warm, wet tongue, Hiei arched his back and hissed even louder than before. It was the only way he was determined to allow Karasu to hear a sound of pain come from him.

Hiei placed his head upright on the pillow he had been trying to hide his face in and glared at the dark, violet eyes that were staring at him. Karasu's expression remained the same as he rose back up and straddled the slim waist beneath him. The violet eyed man grabbed almost tenderly at Hiei's chin and forced the younger man's head to the left. Hiei wanted to resist, but something told him not to. A voice deep and soft seemed to cradle him and told him not to resist Karasu. He wondered why he was hearing the voice, but Hiei couldn't ponder on it for too long. Karasu's voice broke through to him.

"I was told not to leave marks on you. You're owned by Togoro, I hear," Karasu said into his ear and breathed onto Hiei's neck.

Hiei narrowed his eyes, as if blinded by a bright light, and he nodded slowly. He squinted because the voice had gotten louder as Karasu had spoken. It rang of the walls in his head and seemed to want to drown him in its musical strength. He was having a difficult time trying to hear anything but the voice in his head.

Karasu smiled—as best as any dark man can—and shrugged his black, cloak off of his shoulders, and threw it to the ground. It left him in a pair of black pants and nothing else. He hadn't been wearing a shirt. The dark haired man straddled the slim waist beneath him and bent back over Hiei to breathe on his neck.

Feeling Karasu's breath on his neck made the hairs on the back of Hiei's head stand on end. There was something cold about his breath. It had no odor, and the bare flesh looked almost dead on the man. It made Hiei wonder what was wrong with Karasu, but as soon as he began to think, the voice in his head erupted and he could clearly make out words.

_"Why do you try and make this difficult?"_ the male voice asked him.

Hiei ground his teeth together as the man above him began to trace his veins with his tongue. Hiei found it difficult to concentrate.

"I…I don't know what you're talking about," Hiei said to the ceiling as he tossed his head back when Karasu nipped him. If the red eyed man had been able to notice, Karasu didn't detour from his downwardly movement when he spoke. He continued with what he was doing as if he hadn't heard the reply.

_"I only want what I came for. If you would just let me have it, I could leave and you could rest."_

The word "rest" seemed to make Hiei want to comply, though he didn't even know what he was thinking. His whole body felt numb as Karasu suddenly stopped his biting, licking, and sucking. He leaned back over Hiei, almost towering above him, and Hiei noticed something odd about the man then. Karasu's smile—almost too evil to really be called a smile—looked different. But the voice in his head suddenly roared again, though it was too jumbled to really make anything out. Hiei narrowed his eyes again and broke out in a sweat as the one voice in his head broke into two, then three, and so forth. Many different voices filled his head. Hiei closed his eyes as he began to feel them roll back into his head, not being able to take the stress of hearing so many voices all at once in his mind.

And then suddenly, as soon as it had all started, the voices all went silent. There was a ring in Hiei's ears as he opened his eyes to stare up at Karasu who was wincing heavily and looked like he wanted to scream. Hiei's breathing slowed to normal—it had been racing when he had been invaded by the voices—but then, to dismay, one voice, alone, sounded in his head. It sounded caring and gentle. Almost motherly. Like Julia.

_"Are you alright, angel?"_

Hiei blinked and looked around to room to assure himself that only he and Karasu were in the room.

"I…," but he was cut off suddenly when the voice said, _"I wish you would speak within your mind. Don't worry about the voices. Karasu is having a taste of his own medicine."_ Hiei glanced at Karasu, the man's eyes closed and moving around rapidly beneath his lids. Hiei pulled his legs out from beneath the dark male and kicked him off the bed. Karasu landed with an ungraceful thump, but he seemed not to notice. His hands were crawling around the floor, looking for something, but Hiei paid no mind to the man.

_"Can…can you hear my like this?"_ Hiei asked tentatively, being cautious incase Karasu come back to reality.

He heard a gentle chuckle before the voice replied, _"Yes, I can hear you just fine. You really shouldn't leave yourself open to mind readers like Karasu. He could have done far worse things that raped you, had I not interfered."_

Hiei tried to sit up from his lying position, but had momentarily forgotten the handcuffs that surrounded his wrists. He pulled on them, but found that they would not give. He also didn't know where the key was.

_"Oh, I forgot about those. If you could wait a minute…_" and the voice trailed off.

Hiei waited in silence for about three seconds, when Karasu stood up quickly. His movements seemed jerky and he faltered once or twice, but he made his way back up to the bed. Hiei glared at the black haired man and growled at him, "Stay away from me!" But Karasu didn't stop stumbling until he reached the headboard. His jerky hand reached into the pocket of his trousers and he pulled out a small, sliver key. He reached over to Hiei's bound wrists and jerkily undid the handcuffs.

Hiei quickly brought his arms down and rubbed at his wrists for a moment. Karasu stood at the bedside with a blank look on his face. His eyes showed nothing. Then, he turned away from Hiei and stumbled back to where his jacket lied, thrown to the floor from earlier. He picked it up with some difficulty, and pulled it on. He then stumbled to the door and walked out, shutting the door behind him. Hiei had watched his movements the whole time.

_"Sorry for taking so long. Well, you are safe now. I hope you don't ever have the unfortunate luck of meeting Karasu again. Good night, angel,"_ the voice said smoothly before everything in Hiei's head went quiet.

Hiei had wanted to at least thank the voice—a male voice, it had sounded like—for saving him, but he hadn't had the chance. Hiei stood from his sitting position on his bed and walked over to the window in which moonlight shown through. He parted the blinds and looked outside. Something bright red caught his eye, and Hiei tore his eyes from the bright full moon. There, standing at the corner where the light shining down from the street light above and the shadows met was a tall figure dressed in all black and had long, bright red hair. He or she was staring up at Hiei. The red eyed man was taken aback at the intense gaze the figure has focused on him. The person's unnatural emerald green eyes seemed to glow in the light. The being smiled gently, and then stepped back into the shadows of the night.

A/n: Well, that was a very painful chapter to type. This chapter shall be known—for the time being, anyway—as the chapter that wouldn't come to me and was being a pain in the ass! God damnit! Bet you all can guess who the person standing on the corner is! Teehee! I'm not gonna leave him out. Though, I do tend to not like him very much. But, for now, he will have to…_a long beep sounds and the broadcast is lost_ Ja!


	6. Batty Mailman

Blue Crow

Chapter 5: Batty Mailman

A/n: Evil chapters that refuse to be written! Curse them! Curse them I say!

Cold Toenails: Pixie sticks…_sniffles_ I ate them all. I created that theory when I had a sugar high. Teehee! But yea, it's very obvious if you've read my other stories. My one-shots and then my on-going. Dodos are funny…teehee! I'm watching Ice Age. Poor squirrel. I once looked at a pic where someone had drawn Hiei as a squirrel. He was so cute! He was holdin' an acorn too! He was so adorable! I wanna squeal just thinkin' about it! Weeeee!

kikira-chan: Hi! Some chapters are kinda hard to write, and I don't know why. Oh well. Oh…the Chex Mix is evol! Stomach ache! I was debating between "angel" or "little one" but, I thought angel would sound cuter. Teehee! I knew I was gonna get that crazy fox in here one way or another. Even if I'd have to drag him in by his nose hairs! Ew…that's gross. If you listen to his dub voice in fast-mo, he sounds like a girl. Even though he is a chipmunk soundin' thingy…Random! _smiles_

kit-kit: Yep. That about sums it up. But, would it really ever be that simple? Of course not! Gosh, do I have some twists planned for this story. Big twists. Some that'll try to sell you some floor toast! But beware! This story may be tricky as a beaver. Maybe even two beavers! Muwahahaha! The beavers! Teehee!

BATTY MAILMAN

_Pants and sighs filled the hot, sticky air as the two bodies rubbed together for friction. Red hair spilled over onto his partner's shoulders as he teasingly thrust into him. No words were exchanged between the two. Only grunts and moans of passion filled the talking space. Shuttering violently, the smaller male arched his back in a fine arch when something inside him twitched from the light touches of his taller lover. The small male howled in to the dark room and he felt hot liquid rush up to meet his warm walls…_

Waking with a start, Hiei sat straight up and panted as the dream in his mind began to fade away. Bringing a hand up to wipe at the sweat beads on his forehead, the red eyed whore pulled up the sheets that covered his body and grimaced at the stickiness. It had happened again. Every night since he had made eye contact with the strange man on the corner of the street, Hiei had been having reoccurring sexual dreams. He was with the same man, that he was sure of. Hiei, in the dreams, had never heard the man's voice before, so he didn't quite know what he sounded like. But he was convinced that the voice in his head that had protected him from Karasu was the same one that gasped and moaned in his dreams. But by that time, Hiei had convinced himself that the whole ordeal with Karasu had been a horrible nightmare.

Hiei glared at the sheets that stank and stuck to him as he pushed them off him. He had recently started to sleep nude—he didn't have the foggiest idea as to why—and he was beginning to be a bit thankful. He had to change his sheets **every** god blessed morning, but at least not his clothes. He had acquired a new shirt from Kasper, though it was far too large because of the man's breasts. His pants hadn't been ripped, though Hiei was still convinced that Karasu had been a nightmare, so he wore those. When he got his one free day off, Kasper had told him about that—it was Sunday—he had washed them and had borrowed a pair of Kasper's pants as well. These were embarrassing to walk around in, because no matter how high Hiei rolled the jeans up his legs, it still appeared as though the pants were trying to eat him. He looked ridiculous in the shirt and pants that were too large for him.

Still making a face at the dirty sheets, Hiei tossed them in a pile in a corner of the room to be washed on Sunday. To Hiei, every day felt like Sunday. His picture was posted down in the lobby—how Togoro had gotten it, he didn't know—but no one came.

Kasper had also told him that the door to his bedroom had to stay open once he was awake. That was a signal that he wasn't already with someone. If the door was closed, then he was occupied.

Hiei had also asked Kasper why he was still on the seventh floor of the house when he was clearly male and he belonged on either the fourth floor for young males or the sixth floor for homosexuals. Kasper had told him that he wasn't going to the fourth floor, because he obviously didn't like women dominating over men, and he didn't know why Hiei hadn't been moved to the sixth floor. Kasper agreed that was where the red eyed male belonged. Neither of them could figure it out, and Glen was as bouncy as ever.

Hiei sighed, still tired, as he pulled on the baggy pair of pants and parachute like shirt. The shirt almost hung down to his knees, but not quite. The pants fell down his hips when he walked too fast or tried to run, so he had to shove his hands in to the pockets and hold them up that way until he could find a belt. Opening the door to his room, Hiei pulled it all the way open and walked down to the end of the hall. Most of the other whores were still slumbering, because the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon. Hiei scoffed at the dream that had made him rise early. The house opened at nine, and he still had around four hours to go. But even then, he couldn't have done much. Everyone had to stay in their rooms unless they had special passes that said they could be out and about. But then, if they didn't make it to their destination in a certain amount of time, or were screwing around, they got into trouble. What the punishment was, Hiei didn't know, and he really didn't want to know, either.

Climbing down seven floors—he really needed to find a faster way of getting down to the lobby—Hiei finally reached the lobby area. Though no one could begin buying yet, the lobby was open at the time to people who wanted to browse. There was only one person in the room besides a woman sitting behind a desk, reading a magazine. He was tall, taller than Hiei anyway, and had long, black hair that fell past his lower back, despite it was in a ponytail near the top of his head. His gray eyes were transfixed on one of the many pictures posted to the walls, and his hands were stuffed into the black jeans he wore. The man wore a black shirt and a black trench coat.

Hiei raised an eye brow, beginning to see a trend in people that caught his eye and stuck out in the room. Karasu, the strange man on the corner under the street lamp, and the man staring at a posted picture all wore black and had the same style of clothing, to a certain extent. It's either a coincidence or something odd is going on, Hiei though as he eyed the man in the coat.

The man smiled and closed his eyes as he said so that only they could hear, "I won't bite, you know."

Hiei's eyes widened a bit before they narrowed again and he began to stomp off to the stairs.

"Wait."

Hiei stopped and looked over his shoulder at the man. He had turned towards Hiei, but didn't come any closer. His face was very serious, and he murmured, "I have a message for you. I want to speak to you in private."

"I'm sorry, but the house doesn't open until nine. You'll have to come back later," a deep voice rumbled in front of Hiei.

The short man recognized the voice of that belonging to Togoro, and he turned around sharply and jumped back.

"Teme!" Hiei shouted a bit loudly, but he relaxed when a hand landed on his shoulder from behind. The red eyed male looked over his shoulder at the stranger and said, "What do you want?" The man didn't smile, but just simply pulled Hiei behind him and stood in front of the shorter male.

"I have permission from Kurama to see him," the stranger said to Togoro.

Hiei raised an eye brow at him and stared. _"What is he talking about?"_ Hiei wondered.

Togoro narrowed his eyes a bit before he said with a bit of anger in his voice, "Alright."

Hiei looked between the strange man and Togoro as the tall, muscled man stalked away and left him and the strange man alone in the lobby. The long haired stranger looked at Hiei over his shoulder and ordered, "Show me to your room. I'm here on business, not pleasure." Hiei narrowed his eyes at the man and walked over to the stairs to bring him up to the seventh floor.

The black haired man was the first to walk into the room and Hiei shut the door behind them both. He knew that he and the man weren't going to do anything together, but he rather not anyone that was nosy to hear their conversation. It could be something important.

Sighing, the man in the coat shrugged the coat off of his shoulders to reveal two strong, leathery wings that stuck out of his back. Surprised, Hiei shuffled backwards until his back hit the shut door.

"W…what are you?" Hiei asked, cursing himself mentally for stuttering.

The man smiled slightly, his face relaxing and looking a bit friendlier than when he was serious.

"My name is Kuronue. I'm here to give you a message from a friend of mine," Kuronue said as he cornered Hiei with his gray eyes. The shorter male tried to not stare at the wings, but the sight of them made him wonder what Kuronue was.

Kuronue closed his eyes and shook his head as he said, "If you must know, I'm a vampire. Are you satisfied?"

Hiei glanced back and forth between the wings on Kuronue's back and his eyes. Hiei had thought that vampires had died out in the city a long time ago along with the other demons. _"Why is this one still here then?"_ Hiei asked himself in his head.

Kuronue sat down on Hiei's sheet lacking bed and crossed his legs. "As I had mentioned, I have a message for you. If you'd kindly take your eyes off my wings for a few seconds, I could tell you it. I'm not supposed to be out in the sunlight, you know." Hiei nodded as he stepped towards the vampire with caution.

"What did you need to tell me?" Hiei asked as he stood only a few steps away from Kuronue.

The vampire uncrossed his legs only to re-cross them with the opposite leg resting atop the other. "The message is from a friend of mine, I mentioned his name earlier, Kurama. He requests your presence within his household." Hiei stared at the floor and he blinked a few times before he mumbled, "I can't leave this place."

Kuronue chuckled and he said, "Kurama has been paying off the debt you have been trying to pay off. That is why you haven't had any customers. He's been trying to protect you from that since he discovered one of his enemies trying to turn you. I believe you remember him. His name is Karasu." Hiei shivered at the mentioning of the name and he nodded once. Kuronue stood up from the bed and grabbed his coat and folded it over his right arm.

"My message has been delivered. I will take my leave of you. If you wish, I could give Kurama a reply," Kuronue suggested.

Hiei thought for a moment before he said to Kuronue, "I want to see him. As soon as possible." Kuronue nodded before walking over to the window and opening it. He looked over at Hiei one last, nodding to him, before jumping out the window. Hiei dashed over to the window to catch a last glimpse of Kuronue's coat before it disappeared into nothing out of thin air. Hiei rests his elbows on the window sill and thought dreamily, _"I wish I could fly away like that…"_

A/n: Done. God do I hate it when chapters just won't write themselves. Hate it, hate it, hate it! And is it me, or did this chapter feel forced? Bah! Ja!


	7. Creeping Confusion

Blue Crow

Chapter 6: Creeping Confusion

A/n: God, am I beat. I'm fallin' asleep at the keyboard here! This chapter is short, but I guess that's alright. As long as I updated, right? Hahaha…._falls onto the keyboard and begins to snore_ Here's your damned chapter…._throws chapter at readers_ I'm sleepy…..

Cold Toenails: Oh my goodness! That's utterly horrible. I'm so sorry. Wow, only ten…..I'm speechless. Thank you for reading even though that happened. I just don't know what to say. I'm very sorry for your loss, though. I've never really known my family, I was adopted, but I've had close friends that I thought of as family.

kit-kit: Short and straight to the point, ne?

KyoHana: Yea, you're probably right. But there are going to be so many plot twists in this story, it's not even funny. I'm actually starting to lose track of what happens in each chapter! That's bad, isn't it? But thank you for reviewing. I'm only getting an average three reviews for each chapter, and I'm expecting one more from a frequent reviewer. But I do thank you for your advice kinda thingy….Opinion! There's that word.

CREEPING CONFUSION

_Silver fur flashed in the moonlight as the four legged fox dashed in the under brush. A dark shadow passed the ground the elderly fox had touched only seconds ago, and suddenly a horrible hissing sound filled the air. The fox made leaps and jumps to over come the fallen logs and bushes that were in his way. His golden eyes were glued ahead of him. A screeching call made the fox jump awkwardly and he landed a moment too late. The dark shadow grew larger and laded on top of the fox as he changed into a humanoid form. The two wrestled around on the ground for a moment before the dark shadow pinned the tall fox to the forest floor._

_Staring down at his prey with lust and hunger in his violet eyes, the shadow bent over the fox's body to inhale his scent. The fox bucked upwards to try and displace the shadow above him. Hot breath came down onto his neck from the side, and sharp fangs teased his flesh. The fox's eyes widened and he let out a scream of horrible sorts as the fangs from the shadow above him pierced his flesh and cursed him to live a thousand deaths…_

Hiei awoke with a start as rain pelted down on his window. It had been three days since Kuronue had brought him the message. _"He requests your presence within his household."_ Hiei shook his head and tried to settle back down to go back to sleep. But something was wrong. No matter how hard Hiei tried, he couldn't close his eyes. Something in the room was wrong. Not moving, Hiei narrowed his eyes and scanned the room. A flash of lightning gave the room a sudden burst of light, and glowing green eyes from the darkest corner of the room appeared from out of no where. Continuing to not move, Hiei stared at the place where he had seen the eyes. He couldn't see them after the lightning had ended, but he knew he had seen them.

The room was deafeningly quiet. Not even the rain hitting the roof from the roaring storm outside made a sound. The mattress of Hiei's bed sunk in to his right, and he sat up and stared into the darkness. Lightning flashed again and the eyes were right next to him. Hiei's eyes widened and before he could move, soft lips covered his when he attempted to cry out. Hiei sat still with whoever was next to him on the bed, and a cold, wet hand reached out and covered his that sat on the sheets. The fingers were ice on his, and the wetness made them feel clammy. Hiei's mouth was open, but the shadow on the other side of the kiss didn't take that as an invitation. Then, as soon as the kiss had started, the other broke away and they shared breathing air together.

Hiei had closed his eyes in panic, but he slowly opened them when he felt the other pull away. Staring into the dark room for a second time, Hiei reached out with a trembling hand, the cold hand on top of his letting go, and reached outward. Cold skin met with his hand, and the cool fleshed hand that had touched his only a moment ago reached up to cover his. Hiei shivered from the cold feel of the skin. _"It feels like its…dead,"_ he thought.

The room was quiet again except for the sound of breathing from both Hiei and the stranger holding his hand.

"I'm sorry if I scared you. I didn't want you to scream," the being next to Hiei said softly.

Hiei tried to jerk his hand away from the soft grip that was on it, but found he could not.

"This **is** a bit of a surprise. Maybe I shouldn't have come to see you."

Hiei's eyes twitched as he was pushed down, back on to his bed. His eyes felt heavy and he had to fight to try and keep them open.

"I'm terribly sorry for waking you up. That window is atrociously small. I seemed to have made enough noise to wake you up. Please, allow me to put you back into your dreams," the man said as he put more force into his hold on Hiei's shoulder. He still held Hiei's left hand, but had moved it from where it had been. "It won't hurt you, Hiei. I promise."

Hiei shook his head negatively, but his body felt like led, and he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. A small kiss was placed on his forehead before his eyes were forced closed and he drifted off.

A loud knocking, more like a pounding, on Hiei's bedroom door, made him groan. Turning onto his stomach, Hiei pulled the pillow his head was resting on and put his head beneath it, trying to block out Kasper's yelling.

"Get up, you lazy bastard! Are you ignoring me? I told you to get up! And unlock this door!" Kasper roared on the other side.

Hiei rolled his closed eyes and he mumbled, "How could anyone ignore you when you're that loud?"

Kasper jiggled the door handle a few times before it came unlocked from his roughness with it and the door burst open. Before Kasper could get a hairy leg into the room though, a flash of orange and black zipped in and crashed into Hiei as he sat up.

"Waky, waky, lazy leggy!" Glen cried into Hiei's ear before huffing and falling backwards onto her back, giggling and smiling madly.

Hiei rubbed his ear that Glen had yelled into and stared around the room with his eyes half open. Kasper growled from the doorway and made great leaps into the room to jump onto Hiei's bed a grab him. Pulling the youth's head under his arm, Kasper squeezed Hiei and roughed up his hair.

"Do ya know what time it is, ya sloth? It's one! I'm gonna make you miserable 'til you sing like a canary and tell me what the hell you were doing last night!" Kasper roared and rubbed at Hiei's hair, messing it up even further. Hiei tried to squirm out of Kasper's grasp, but he was unsuccessful.

"It was…it was nothing!" Hiei gasped out as Kasper rubbed his head even harder than before. "I just couldn't sleep…that's all!"

Kasper stopped messing up Hiei's hair, but he didn't release the short man. Kasper suddenly jerked up Hiei by his neck, since he wasn't wearing any clothing, and Kasper leered into the red eyes.

"You'd better not be lyin'! 'Cause if you are, I'll thump you good. 'Understand?" Kasper asked.

Hiei glared back, but nodded, and Kasper released him and got off the bed. Kasper grabbed the front of Glen's shirt and dragged her out towards the door.

"Come on, Glen. Let's give lazy legs here some privacy," Kasper said to Glen as if Hiei wasn't in the room. Glen wasn't paying attention, but staring at the window. Kasper shut the door once he had dragged all of Glen out of the room behind him.

Hiei gave the door a lingering glare, but soon let it drop and he stretched and yawned. That mystery man had surprised him the night before, and then he had suddenly fell asleep. He hadn't known why, but it was a very deep sleep. And the dream he had had before awakening because of the feel of being watched was still on his mind as well. Hiei gave one final stretch before he bushed the sheets off of his naked body and stood up from the bed.

Walking over to the window, Hiei rested his elbows on the sill and rested his chin on the palms of his hands. Staring out the surprisingly clean window, Hiei's eyes focused and unfocused a few times, before they focused a final time and something caught his eye. It was a reflection of a pile of white in the corner of the room behind him. Turning around, Hiei stared at the folded dirty sheets resting on the floor. Cocking an eye brow, Hiei walked over to the pile and picked one up and gave it a sniff. It was clean and had a fresh smell to it. The youth stared at the pile of sheets for a long time before he finally dropped it back to the floor. That was strange. It wasn't Sunday yet, and he didn't know anyone on the other floors. He only knew Kasper and Glen.

Trying to push the warning bells in his mind out of ear shot, Hiei walked back over to the window, but froze when he saw something red just outside it. Suddenly curious, Hiei made a quick dash over to the window and opened it. Just outside the glass was a thorny red rose that was wedged in a crack in the brick wall. Staring at the rose for a long time, Hiei reached out to it slowly and picked it up at the stem where there weren't any thorns on it. Hiei brought the rose inside and stared at it a bit closer. It looked like a normal rose to him.

Shrugging, Hiei walked back over to the pile of sheets and set the rose down there, where he knew it wouldn't be squashed. His eyes lingered on the rose and clean sheets for a moment longer before Hiei turned back around and walked over to the discarded clothes he had been wearing yesterday. He would have to wash them come Sunday.

A/n: Sorry that was annoyingly short, but I can't write long chapters. And I'm dyin'. I'm tired. Ja!


	8. Loneliness Street

Blue Crow

Chapter 7: Loneliness Street

A/n: God, I hate school with a passion only reserved for my passionate hate of lots of Mary Sue like anime characters! _heaves_ There! I said it.

KyoHana: Thank you, so much! You really think it's that good? Wow, I'm ecstatic. But, beware! Plot twists from here until the end. Mostly. I'm kinda rocky on the end. Even **I** don't know what's gonna happen! That's a scary though.

kit-kit: You bet your potato skins, he did. Potato skins are really good…._drools_ But this isn't about food. But yea, and he pays the little bunny another visit. Oh, the twists that will come! I'm so mean, sometimes.

Cold Toenails: Oh, good. I was hoping you'd come back. Yea, I made Glen the kinda _there_ character that the story just couldn't be without, but the story doesn't exactly need. Ya know? God, that was stupid. Oh screw it. I just needed to make someone to make everyone laugh a little. Kasper needed a friend anyway. Hmm….that's givin' me an idea….Teehee! No spoilers for you.

LONELINESS STREET

"I didn't do the damn laundry! If you like the fucking sheets so much, why don't you shove them up your ass!" Hiei cursed at Kasper and slammed the door behind him as he entered the darkness of his room. Kasper had seen the clean sheets and the rose, and had wondered who he had "fucked for free". This had enraged Hiei for some reason, and he had shoved Kasper to into a wall as they were walking around the seventh floor and had run back to his room. Hiei glared over his shoulder as Glen gave a loud wail and began to cry from his shouting at Kasper. Hiei's glare dropped from his eyes and he stared at the door over his shoulder for a long time. A sudden feeling of loneliness crept up on him and made the empty space in his chest clench.

Closing his eyes, Hiei turned back to his bed and flopped down onto it. The short man buried his head in his pillow and lied there in silence to try and cool his temper and try to figure out why he felt so lonely. He didn't need anyone, or so he thought. But during the day, he had been thinking a lot about his life. His mother—that had died to give birth to him—, the supposed little sister that never saw the light of day, his father that beat him for the first thirteen years of his life since he was old enough to walk, Yuusuke, and more recently, this mysterious Kurama who he was beginning to think had been the redhead visitor. All the feelings he had for these people mixed in to one and made him more confused than he had ever been. It made his head hurt.

A gentle caress on his head made Hiei jump up and turn himself around. He stared for a while at the familiar glowing green eyes and bright red hair that he could barely make out in the light of the moon. Kurama smiled at the shorter man and put a finger to his lips, wishing for silence. Hiei nodded and folded his legs beneath him, sitting indian style.

Kurama made himself comfortable, sitting a few inches away from Hiei on his bed, and stared at the other man for a long time. An awkward silence permeated the room and neither Hiei nor Kurama spoke for a long time. After staying silent to what seemed to be hours, Hiei broke eye contact with the stranger whom he had been glancing at time and again, and cleared his throat.

"So…why did you come back? And how did you get in here, anyway?" Hiei asked in an almost whisper.

Kurama's smile didn't waver as he said happily, "I wanted to see you again. I suppose I wasn't very specific during our last meeting, but I flew in from the window."

Hiei cocked an eye brow at the redhead and asked, suspicious, "Flew? What are you? Some kind of…"

"Vampire," Kurama finished the sentence for the human.

Hiei's eyes widened a bit and he leaned back to get a better look at Kurama.

"You don't look like a…demon," he commented.

Kurama's smile faltered as he asked with a hint of hurt in his voice, "Does this bother you? I could make myself look more…demonic if you'd prefer that."

Hiei shook his head and said quickly, "No. You look fine the way you are." Once he had noticed what he had said, a blush rose up on his face and he stumbled over his words, trying to cover up the mistake. "I mean, you don't have to look demonic. Looking human is fine."

Kurama's gentle smile returned and he said, "I see."

There was another long silence that followed the conversation. Hiei tried not to stare at the redhead, knowing he was one of the "undead", but he couldn't help but glance at him every few seconds. To his knowledge, he had never met a demon before. When his and Kurama's eyes caught each other, Hiei couldn't look away. He was compelled to stare, as if the glowing green eyes where his lifeline 1.

Kurama frowned instantly, and turned his head away and covered his eyes with the sleeve of his long sleeved coat that was unbuttoned.

"Please, don't stare," he asked quietly.

Hiei shook his head and reached up to his forehead and held his head. His mind had suddenly gone blank and all he could do was sit, frozen, and stare at the beautiful creature in front of him. It sounded far too romantic. Like something that came out of one of Kasper's romance novels. To Hiei, it was sickening. He had never been so…girly in his life. He had never swooned over someone like that before. It made him want to groan. His head was already filled to the brim of confused feelings, and he didn't need a mushy one for that redhead to be thrown into the mix. He would die from his skull cracking open because of the emotions if he didn't die from a bite mark on his neck first.

Awkward silence filled the air, yet again, to Hiei's discomfort. Snorting, Hiei turned away from the vampire and flopped back onto his bed to lie on his side. Trying his best to ignore Kurama, the short human covered his eyes with am arm which he threw across his head. The mattress shifted and a cold body cuddled up against the human's back. Hiei flinched as Kurama drew him close and wrapped his left arm around him.

"What are you doing?" Hiei asked as he peered at Kurama over his shoulder.

Kurama smiled and he hugged Hiei closer, and he mumbled, "I'm just holding you. Do you not want me to?"

Hiei blinked a few times before he curled into a ball and shook his head "no."

"Why are you so cold? It feels like I'm lying next to a dead body," Hiei mumbled back as he shivered.

Nuzzling Hiei's hair, Kurama said, "It's because I haven't been feeding. I haven't been drinking any blood." The vampire exhaled on Hiei's neck, and his hot breath made the human shutter and the little hairs on his neck stood up.

"Why don't you want me to stare into your eyes?" Hiei asked, uncomfortable by the closeness of the demon.

Kurama inhaled the human's scent before he explained. "It's a spell all vampires have. None of us can control it. Our eyes are enchanting to our prey; mainly humans. When humans stare into a vampire's eyes when they are feeding, it paralyzes that human until the vampire that paralyzed them breaks the spell. They only way to break the spell, once it is fully in place, is to be bitten. That is why I didn't want you to stare."

Hiei uncurled himself from his ball and sat up. He turned around a bit to stare at the vampire still lying down. Kurama turned away, so as to avoid enchanting the human, and closed his eyes.

"Why don't you just feed from me?" Hiei asked, trying to make eye contact with the stubborn vampire.

Kurama shook his head, with some difficulty because he was still lying down, and said, "It's been too long for me to just have a taste of blood. If it were a human I was preying on, I would have to kill them."

Hiei finally stopped trying to stare into the emerald green eyes, and he looked towards the wall where the moonlight was casting shadows. The mattress shifted again, and cold arms wrapped around his waist.

"Besides, I could never do you any harm," Kurama whispered as he rested his chin on one of the human's pale shoulders. The white shirt that was too large for Hiei sagged to one side to reveal skin. It was one of Kasper's shirts. The redheaded demon inhaled the human's scent once more before he sighed and closed his eyes. He was by no means tired, he was just lonely. It had been for as long as he couldn't remember since the last time he had a companion. Tightening his hold on the human, Kurama glared at their shadows. A sudden feeling of anger had risen up, but he didn't dare show it. Karasu was near by.

Hiei looked over his shoulder as the mattress rose up, and Kurama stood from the bed.

"Where are you going?" Hiei asked, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.

Kurama's eyes were narrowed as he glared out the window.

"I want to stay to better protect you, but if I can not protect you from Karasu, Kuronue will. Don't be afraid of him. He's been given orders on what to do if I fail," Kurama explained as he removed his coat. His shirt was ratty and torn in many places, and its sleeves were torn and unraveling at the ends, but it was light and easy to fly in.

Hiei stood up on his knees and turned around fully, his eyes looking a tiny bit concerned.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

Kurama did not reply. He opened the window as far as it could go and stood in silence for a long time.

"I have to leave you now," he mumbled, sadness creeping into his voice.

Hiei watched, his eyes widened, as the vampire's shoulder blades moved fiercely beneath his skin before they broke free and began to grow. The human sat in shock and awe as the vampire stumbled only once as leathery wings sprouted from his back. He growled only once before he folded his wings against his back and tossed himself out of the window. Hiei stood up at once and raced towards the window, thinking he'd see the redhead splattered on the ground seven stories below, but when he looked outside, he saw nothing. Confused, Hiei looked into the night sky to see a winged creature, large enough to be human, fly off into the night sky.

A/n: I wrote a few of the paragraphs at school, so it took forever to copy those. I'm not the best typist, and I looked at my hands all the time. Damn, do I hate that. Oh well.

1: I really hated writing that part, but I couldn't think of anything else to put there. So out of character! Bad Yami! Bad! _whacks self with newspaper_ I though I was going to be able to keep everyone in character. Oh well. People do crazy things when hypnotized and what not.

Ja!


	9. Bringin’ Down the House

Blue Crow

Chapter 8: Bringin' Down the House

A/n: God, am I tired. After this, I'm havin' the Sleep Fairy take me away forever!

KyoHana: Thanks. That was the chapter's original title, and I was going to change it, but then as I was editing, I was like, "Wow. I really should just leave it alone." I'm glad I did. But yea, their loneliness is **uber** noticeable during the Makai Tournament saga. It was as obvious as the sky is blue! But be careful, there's some crude humor in this chapter. And a foot note to go along with it. I thought it was the funniest thing in the world. I'll probably get yelled at for it, though.

kit-kit: Yes! You are correct. Karasu is a nasty vampire, too. Not all vampires are nasty, but I really don't like him. If he dies (no spoilers for you!) he'll die a very painful death, just because he's evil in this story and I don't like him. Sorry if that's offending to anyone, but I'm just saying that I don't like him. I **hate** him with a passion. But not as much as Yomi….._sputters, gags, sputters_

kikira-chan: That must suck. I still live with my parents, so I really don't have to work yet. I really want to work at a book store, but there aren't any around my house. Speaking of slugs, that's what my current mouse cursor is! It's so cute. But, here's your next chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Cold Toenails: Don't worry. The little hotty will have his angst bitch spot light moment soon enough. But I'm glad you came back. You're normally the first one to review, but I understand why you weren't on top of me these past few chapters. That is completely understandable. I'm half way surprised that you are still reading. I mean, with what happened and all. But then, another half of me isn't too surprised.

BRINGIN' DOWN THE HOUSE

It had been three nights since Kurama had run off from Hiei's bedroom to "defend" him from Karasu. The first two nights, Hiei hadn't been too worried. The third one had rolled around, and there was still no sign of the redhead. Hiei didn't think he would stay away for so long. The sun was setting, and Hiei's hopes weren't too high that he would see the vampire that night.

"Maybe Karasu killed him," Hiei mumbled to himself as he walked down the hallway towards his room. He had to walk the halls in the nude, because he had just lost a game of Strip Poker to Kasper. Glen had been smiling the whole time and had giggled whenever her brown eyes landed on Hiei's bare skin. There was still a dark, red blush on his cheeks from embarrassment.

Reaching his door, Hiei reached towards the knob to open it when he heard something crash from inside. It had sounded like glass had been broken. Trying to open the door quietly, Hiei turned the door knob slowly and opened the door. Once it was open all the way, Hiei stood outside the room and took in the damage that he could see. In the glow from the hallway lights, he could see that a lamp that had stood up next to the window had been knocked over, and its light bulb had shattered. Red smears also marred the dirty carpet. All the little hairs on Hiei's body stood on end as he waited for something to happen.

Reaching into the darkness of the room, Hiei patted on the wall to look for the light switch that controlled the light in the fan on the ceiling of the room. His fingered brushed it, but he stopped when he heard a sudden hiss.

"Hiei don't!" There was a pause, "the light…"

Hiei recognized Kurama's voice even though it was raspy and hoarse and sounded as though he was in pain. Not fearing the unknown of darkness anymore, Hiei quickly stepped into the room and closed the door, locking it behind him. Togoro had a key to ever whore's room, but Hiei didn't care. He had felt emptiness within his heart while the redheaded vampire had been away, and that emptiness had been filled once he had heard the demon's voice.

"Where are you?" Hiei asked in a whisper. "I can't see you. There's no moonlight."

Something creaked in the room and Kurama rasped out, "The bed. I'm sorry if there is blood on the bed, but…"

"Forget about that!" Hiei exclaimed as he tried to move as quickly as possible towards the bed. His knees bumped it and he lied his hands down on the surface. Patting his hands across the surface, he his hands met with cold feet and Hiei knew he had found the demon.

Hiei walked around to the side he hoped Kurama was facing and reached out with one hand, and he made contact with something wet. The short human pulled his hand back and sniffed at it. He recognized the smell of blood. Whatever body part he had just touched was wounded.

"Where are you hurt?" Hiei asked as he reached out again.

The vampire caught his hand and pressed it to cold, bare skin. He sighed as he breathed onto the back of Hiei's hand.

"Please, no need to worry about me. I'll heal on my own," Kurama said as he brushed his lips against the human's hand.

Hiei didn't bother trying to pull his hand back when he felt the cold lips on his hand. Staring into the darkness, Hiei found the edge of the bed with his legs, so that he didn't disturb the redhead lying on it, and sat down softly.

"You said that you haven't been feeding lately, though," Hiei mumbled as Kurama pulled on his hand to come closer.

The vampire shook his head "no" and squeezed Hiei's warm hand within his cold one.

"I don't know much about vampires, but if you're running low on blood, won't you…die?' Hiei asked, suddenly uncomfortable with the situation he was in.

Both of the men were still as Hiei's word echoed in the vampire's head. He had never gone so long without feeding. But he knew that if he were to try and feed from Hiei, he would have to kill the human to at least be able to heal fully. And Kurama knew within his mind, without a doubt, that he could never hurt Hiei in such a way, let alone kill him.

Hiei pulled his hand away, finally, and moved himself to where he could lie down on the bed next to the redhead. When Hiei settled down, Kurama's arms reached out to him and grasped him tightly in an embrace. Feeling the human's bare back with his hands, Kurama's brow furrowed and he pulled away to stare at the human.

"Why are you naked?" he asked bluntly.

Hiei remember the state he was in and the red blush returned to his face as he mumbled, "I lost a game of Strip Poker to Kasper."

The red eyed male regretted telling him about the game when the vampire's arms around him tightened instantly and he felt the demon tense against him.

"Did this Kasper **touch** you?' Kurama asked, putting emphasis on the word "touch."

Hiei blushed even redder as he recalled the jeering comments Kasper had made once he had completely lost the game and had to remove his pants. He hadn't worn any underwear beneath his pants, so Kasper got an eye full. Well, he didn't **really** get an eye full, but there weren't any articles of clothing on Hiei. To make matters worse, as soon as he had removed a piece of clothing, Glen had snatched them away and stuffed them somewhere. Hiei wasn't going to take a chance on trying to take back his clothes from the bubbly and maybe a little insane Glen. He wanted to keep his fingers from being bitten off.

Hiei shook his head no, lying, and tried to cuddle closer to the cold body next to him.

"You're lying. I can tell," Kurama mumbled over the top of the human's head.

Hiei ground his teeth together and lied through his teeth, "No, I'm not."

He felt a sudden pressure on his head, not coming from outside, and he winced slightly.

"Okay, okay! He made some comments on my….well, you know!"

Kurama pulled away again and stared at the blushing human next to him.

"No, I don't," he said.

If possible, the blush on Hiei's face grew even darker and spread out to the back of his neck and ears. He plunged down and buried his head in the torn shirt Kurama was wearing and mumbled something incoherent.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you," the vampire said, being completely serious.

Hiei mumbled his answer again, and still it was muffled.

"What?" Kurama asked, and he pulled away again.

"My penis! He made jokes about the size of my penis!" Hiei yelled at the vampire, his eyes pinched shut and his shoulders shaking 1.

Kurama stared a moment longer before he made a move to sit up. Hiei pulled his head out of the torn, black shirt he had pressed his face into a moment ago and asked, "Where are you going?"

Kurama winced and held a hand to his stomach before he said, "I'm going to find this Kasper person."

"Why?" Hiei asked, trying to not blush again.

Kurama narrowed his eyes at the door, he could see better than a human, and he mumbled, "He teased you. I won't allow it."

The demon struggled to rise from the bed and stumble to the door. He was still bleeding, but not as bad as he had been. Being near Hiei had helped him more than he thought it would have. Kurama never would have thought that just being near the human would help him heal. He would have to make sure to kill Karasu slowly when he got the chance to. He could hear the worry in Hiei's voice when he had first spoken, and if he hadn't had to go off and chase after Karasu in the first place, he wouldn't have had to leave **his** human. Kurama smiled inwardly and he thought, _"I think Hiei is mine. It feels good to have something to hold on to. I can't remember the last time when I had someone like him to cling to. I'm actually feeling a bit more human now. Or whatever I was before this curse was placed upon me."_

Reaching the door, Kurama twisted the handle and opened it slowly. He saw that the lights were still on, and he focused his eyes on them, and the light suddenly went out and the bulbs died. With the hallway dark, Kurama stepped out of Hiei's room and struggled to get down the hallway. He felt a tug on his arm as Hiei tried to stop him.

"You don't have to do anything. Kasper didn't mean it! He was just having fun," Hiei exclaimed as he tried to persuade the vampire into stopping.

Kurama pulled his arm out of Hiei's grasp and he said, "No. He shouldn't tease you even if you two are friends. Besides, I already think of you as mine. He's trespassing."

Hiei let go and stopped in his tracks, and Kurama's words echoed in his ears. _"His? He thinks I belong to him? Ha! How ridiculous. I think something was knocked loose in his head,"_ Hiei thought to himself as he dropped his eyes to stare at the floor. _"But…it hasn't been **that** bad being near him. I never was really in love with Yuusuke, and I've never had anyone. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all…"_ But Hiei was torn from his thinking when he heard a manly voice shout, "Who the hell are you!"

Hiei's attention was focused on the real world again as he recognized Kasper's voice. How Kurama had found the correct room on the first try, he never figured out, but that didn't matter.

The vampire had disappeared from the hallway and had gone into the room and had shut the door behind him. Hiei ran towards the door and banged on it and yelled at the door, "Kurama! No! He didn't mean it. He's only human! Don't do anything stu…" But Hiei was cut off by the sound of something hitting the floor with an ungraceful thump. The door was unlocked from inside by a sleepy looking Glen and after she rubbed her eyes and yawned, she mumbled, "It's sleepy, sleep time right now, Spiky Hair. Go sleep, sleep." And she attempted to close the door.

Hiei pushed against the door and it swung open with an already sleeping Glen curled up on the ground. He looked up from Glen and saw Kurama's body lying on the ground, his face relaxed. The bum and fallen asleep getting ready to defend the human's honor, and he had been the one that had caused the thump. Hiei looked up to find Kasper holding a baseball bat in his hairy hands, still in the position to swing, and he stared at Hiei.

"You've got some explainin' ta do, runt."

A/n: Hahaha!

1 God, I couldn't type that with a straight face! I sat there for like five minutes doing nothing but laughin and pounding on my desk.

I'm tired now, so nighty, night! Ja!


	10. Dusty Roses

Blue Crow

Chapter 9: Dusty Roses

A/n: Kinda emotional chapter, but nothin' too bad. I tried to keep Hiei in character as much as possible, but it was kinda tough. It was tough, **but** not impossible!

Cold Toenails: Yey! You're back. I've never been to Saturday school, so it must really suck. But yea, those bastards that print out the warnings really need to see a 72 size font. _teehee_ Sadly, when I'm at school, the network is monitored, so I can never do anything like that at my school. That sucks, too.

kit-kit: Burn! And you are completely right, too. It's like somebody wired his mouth shut….._giggles_ That could be taken as a perverted comment….The real question is, do I mean it that way? _muah_ I'll never tell! Neva!

kikira-chan: Agreed. Man, not one person has flamed me for my crude humor! I wasn't asking for them to flame me, but I thought at least one person might say, "Hey, just because he's short doesn't mean he's short **everywhere**!" But, on the other hand, I'm glad everyone, and I use that term lightly, has a sense of humor. But yes, I agree. _mumbles_ Mood swinging bastard. But hey, don't you think Darkest Angst's story "Under My Skin" rock ass?

KyoHana: Huzza! I wanna see Karasu get his ass kicked too! But yea, I wanted **some** humor in this story. Kasper and Glen can only do so much on their own. But I thought it was funny too, so I just crossed my fingers, hoping somebody would think it was funny, and I put it in. So far, I've had good feed back for it! Yey! This story needed some romance, so I threw that in too. Looks as though it's working.

MyLiFeMySiN: Well, thank you for the review. I'm glad so far that no one has had any negative response to my attempt at humor. As crude as it may be. But yea, I thought that this story needed some humor in it. I was just hoping no one would yell at me for being a little "out there" ya know? Thank you again, and I hope you continue reading the story.

DUSTY ROSES

"So, he's a vampire? 'Didn't know those tings was real."

"…."

"Don't sit there and act like you all innocent, an' all! Cough it up, midget."

"….."

"Aarrg! I said cough it up!"

Suddenly, Kurama opened his eyes and focused on the voice that had been yelling. Kasper stopped in his tracks as deadly, emerald eyes focused on him. Kasper had a fist raised in the air, but was frozen under the demonic gaze. A voice hammered in his head and gave him orders to release Hiei from the hold he had on the shorter man. Kasper's eyes were unfocused and had dilated.

Hiei looked towards the bed as Kasper released him. The young man resisted the urge to glare at the portly man and carefully walked closer to the resting vampire. Kurama smiled at the human, releasing Kasper from his threatening gaze, and rasped out, worse than before, "How are you?"

Hiei looked away, a slight blush on his face, and shrugged.

Kurama frowned and lifted an arm up in the air, reaching for the human. He opened his mouth to request the short man to come closer, but he suddenly jerked back his hand and covered his head from the bright sunset light bursting from the window.

Kasper had begun letting light into the room, and had momentarily forgotten their darkness happy friend.

Hiei turned towards Kasper and yelled at the man, "No! No sunlight. He'll get worse."

Kasper glared at Hiei, because he didn't like being ordered, and began to close the drapes again.

"A little sunlight never killed no body," Kasper muttered as he stomped over to the bedroom door and slammed it shut behind him as he exited.

Silence took control of the air in the room and neither the human nor the demon spoke. A light blush stained Hiei's face, Kurama noted, and it made him look even more adorable than he had previously thought.

Reaching up again, Kurama rasped, "Please, come here. Did I do something wrong?"

Hiei continued to look away, but he shook his head "no" anyway. He stared off into space and absently rubbed his upper right arm.

"Do you…love me?"

Kurama stared at the human for a long time before he pushed himself up. The blankets that had covered him slipped down to his waist. His torso was bare except for a few white bandages that covered the wounds that had been inflicted upon him. He didn't bother to check if Hiei had noticed the gash in his thigh and had removed his pants to tend to it. He didn't really care.

"What if I told you that I did?" Kurama asked.

Hiei narrowed his eyes at whatever he had been trying to burn a hole in, and he turned his head further away from the demon.

"Why would you?" Hiei retorted.

If Hiei had looked at Kurama, he would have seen surprise written on the vampire's face.

"Why wouldn't I?" Kurama asked quietly.

Hiei pinched his eyes shut as he yelled at the demon, angry at him, "It's not that simple! How can you say that you love someone when you don't even know them. You don't know me…" Hiei trailed off.

Cold arms silently wrapped him in a tight embrace, and hot breath rained down on his head.

"I don't know you. I want to, but you have to let me in, Hiei," Kurama said softly as he held onto the shaking human tighter.

"I can't," Hiei choked back, his six-foot-wall-of-crap separating him and his real emotions had begun to rot away.

"Yes you can," Kurama whispered and he squeezed tighter. "It takes time and trust, but you can let me in, Hiei. You can trust me."

Hiei shook his head "no" violently, and he mumbled with his face buried in the demon's cold chest, "I don't want to! No one cares. Especially not you."

Kurama closed his eyes, being patient, and retorted, "Why is that?"

"You're…you're…." But Hiei couldn't think of anything to say. He had been told thousands of times by his father, years of torment with the man had stamped it in his mind, that he was worthless and no one cared. It had been a horrible feeling at first, but eventually, he had gotten used to the feeling, and that's where the Nothing in his heart had began to grow. 1

Kurama sighed and he slowly rubbed the human's back, bringing him in so that their bodies fit together as if they were neighboring pieces of a puzzle. The vampire rested his cheek on Hiei's head and inhaled the human's scent.

"A dusty room," Hiei mumbled from Kurama's chest.

The redhead pulled away from the human and asked him, "What?"

"A dusty room. You smell like a dusty room. One that's had its door locked for a long time," Hiei said as he blinked, cuddling closer to the cold body in front of him.

"But it's not just a dusty room," Hiei said. "You're smell is more complex than that. You smell like roses too. It's faint, but I can still smell them. You smell kind of like saw dust, too."

Kurama raised an eye brow at the human, and commented, "I don't think I'm **that** old. The roses I can explain, and I spend a lot of time in forests too, but I don't know where you're getting the dusty room idea from."

Hiei shrugged and he wrapped his arms around the redhead's waist, hoping he would drop the conversation.

Kurama smiled at the embarrassed human, and was going to embrace him tightly again, when he felt a youki come nearer.

"Kuronue is coming here," Kurama said, "and he has two others with him."

Hiei didn't look up as Kurama began to pull away. He dropped his arms down to his sides and stared at the floor.

"They're humans. I don't feel any energy coming from them, though. They must be dead," Kurama mumbled, not really talking to Hiei, as he returned to the bed.

He sat down and held his head in his hands. "You'll have to leave me here. I don't want you to see what kind of monster I really am," said the demon.

Hiei glanced at Kurama from under his black and white bangs before he walked over to the bed and sat next to the redhead. He leaned over onto the demon's shoulder and he mumbled, "Why do you not want me to see you? Is it because you don't want me to see some dead person's blood?"

Kurama shook his head and draped an arm around the human's shoulder. "It's not that at all. It's just that…." And there he paused, not wanting to continue.

Hiei looked up at the vampire and asked him, "What? What were you going to say?"

"It's just that," Kurama began, "I wouldn't be able to control myself when I'm so close to my prey. It's a needed and easy meal for me, Hiei. And I'm not going to take the chance of my deprived mind thinking that you are on the menu as well."

Hiei stared into the vampire's eyes, though he knew it was dangerous. Eventually, just before he felt his mind begin to slip, he shut his eyes and leaned upwards.

Kurama closed his eyes as well and met Hiei half way as their lips joined together for a moment. The kiss didn't last long, Kurama felt Kuronue coming closer and closer to the building, and he didn't want to take any risks. He was the first to pull away.

For the first time for as long as Hiei couldn't remember, he wanted a kiss he had shared with someone to last. He hadn't wanted the redhead next to him to pull away. He understood the situation he was in, and he understood that it was a dangerous time to be near such a malnourished vampire, but he wanted to be near Kurama. He didn't feel like leaving the demon alone.

The window to the room slid open, and two thumps sounded. A third figure entered the room, but landed on its feet.

"You'll want the human to leave, Kurama. You and I both know…" but Kuronue was cut off as Kurama interrupted him. "I've told him already. Hiei knows what to do."

Looking from Kuronue to Hiei, Kurama smiled at the human and said, "Go on. This might take a while, but I promise I won't leave without saying good-bye this time. And no matter what you hear coming from this room, do not open the door. Understand?"

Hiei looked up at the vampire, longing in his eyes, though he didn't know it, and nodded. He stood from the bed and walked towards the door. He could hear the two vampires speaking to each other in hushed voices, and Kuronue helped his friend to the floor. Hiei opened the door to his bedroom and walked out of it, and closed it behind him. He heard it lock, though he didn't do it. And them there was no other sound.

A/n: There. Done. I hope you all liked it. Next chapter comin' as soon as I get an idea for it. Sleepy, sleepy, sleepy….Ja!

1 Not a reference to the "Nothing" in the novel and movie The Neverending Story.


	11. Can't Stop the Rain

Blue Crow

Chapter 10: Can't Stop the Rain

A/n: Pain in the ass chapter! I throw tomatoes at you! _throws tomatoes at the chapter_ There. I am happy.

PLEASE, TO ALL OF YOU WHO REVIEW MY STORIES AND THE REVIEWS ARE NOT SIGNED, I CAN NOT PERSONALLY THANK YOU ANYMORE. PLEASE REGISTER SO THAT I MAY THANK YOU! I NEVER LEAVE A REVIEW UNTHANKED. UNTIL NOW, THAT IS.

MyLiFeMySiN, kit-kit, Cold toenails: I can no longer thank you. Please either log in or register. I hate to leave such praise not thanked.

CAN'T STOP THE RAIN

Kuronue opened Hiei's bedroom door quietly. The rainbow of colors that was the setting sun was fading through the drawn blinds on the window. About ten minutes ago, Kuronue had emerged from the room to say that as soon as he felt Kurama fall asleep, he would allow Hiei into the room. The black haired vampire tried to be polite, but there was a horrible viciousness in his eyes that Hiei could not ignore. Kuronue wasn't fond of him, and Hiei wanted to know why. He had done nothing to Kuronue to make the vampire dislike him. Was it the fact that he was a human and Kuronue was a demon? Could that really be a reason? Or was Hiei just making excuses for himself?

Kuronue stepped away from the door's entrance, and murmured, "He wants you with him. Not me."

Hiei raised an eye brow and asked, "Why?"

Kuronue glared at the human but quickly tore his burning eyes from him. "That is none of your business."

Hiei shrugged, not really wanting to argue, he was barely awake, and stepped in to the room. Kuronue shut the door quietly behind him. Before the door had shut—even though Kurama had broken the light bulbs, there was still some light coming from the hallway—Hiei had caught a glimpse of two lifeless bodies on the floor. Kuronue had not told him what they were for, but Hiei could add one and one together. He had brought the bodies so that Kurama wouldn't die. The human was silently thankful for what Kuronue had done, but that still didn't answer why the demon hated him.

Completely shadowed in darkness, Hiei tried to still his breathing and strained his ears to hear anything in the room besides himself. Slight breathing in the room told the human that Kurama was still some where in the room. Hiei out stretched his arm in front of him and began to stumble farther in to the room. He had borrowed his pants back from Kasper, but the transsexual had insisted that he rent them back to Hiei. Hiei had refused to have his own pants **rented** to him, so he took his pants from Glen, who had held the clothes he had been wearing during the game of poker, and stormed out of the room. Kasper had yelled at his back that he expected them returned. If they were not returned within two days, he would charge Hiei five dollars a day for every day that they were not returned on time, with interest. Hiei had rolled his eyes and ignored Kasper's threats.

Hiei's foot bumped in to something cold on the floor, and he almost jumped back. He crouched down and patted the floor with both hands, searching for whatever he had touched. His finger tips touched the cold, lifeless hand of one of the human's Kurama had drained of blood. The realization made Hiei rock back on his feet and fall on his rear end. His fall made a slight thump in the room, and groaning sounded from somewhere in the room.

"Hiei? Is that you?" a hoarse voice asked the darkness.

Hiei gulped and nodded, but quickly answered, "Yes." It had been stupid of him to nod in the darkness of the unlit room, but he hadn't thought about the lack of light. He had been concentrating on controlling the sudden fear that had seized his mind and his breath in to an unbreakable hold.

"Please, come here," Kurama rasped as he pushed himself up from his lying position on the human's bed. He had been burying himself in the scent of the human until he had heard the thump of Hiei's fall.

Hiei blinked in the darkness and pushed himself up from the floor. He rubbed his right upper arm and whispered, "Where are you?"

Kurama exhaled slowly and closed his eyes briefly to relish in the sound of the human's voice. It brought him strength, and he replied, "I'm on your bed."

This made Hiei blush some, but he quickly shook his head to cool his cheeks. "O…okay," he stuttered, suddenly nervous, and stumbled further in to the room.

His knees hit the edge of the bed, and when they gave the bed a light shake, slightly warm arms reached out to him from out of nowhere and stole him from the darkness of the room. Hiei was pulled gently off of his feet and pressed against a naked chest. There was no heartbeat beneath the warm skin, but that didn't bother Hiei. He cuddled closer to the nakedness of the vampire next to him and wrapped his arms around the redhead's neck.

Kurama bent his head low and breathed in Hiei's scent from his hair. The scent that covered the room was old, but it gave Kurama strength along with the sound of the human's voice, but the freshness of Hiei's smell gave the vampire shivers. If his heartbeat hadn't been stolen, the organ would have been throbbing.

Hiei pressed his ear to the left side of Kurama's chest and listened. The silence of the vampire's upper body didn't really bother Hiei, but deep down it did pluck a cord of sadness. Hiei enjoyed the sound of his won heartbeat. It told him he was still alive, even when other things sometimes told him otherwise. Hiei sighed, wishing that the deep sadness within his own heart could be blown away with a puff of air.

Kurama sat next to Hiei with his legs folded Indian style while the human sat in his lap. He smiled down at Hiei and gently stroked his back with soft hands. He wanted to ask what his hands felt like from a different prospective, but he thought that any conversation would break the harmony between them. The silence wasn't really the opposite of noise. There just wasn't any sound. Silence is what a person would get from the absence of noise. Kurama really didn't care about that bit of philosophy, but he did care that Hiei was with him, and he knew that the human was safe.

"Why are you naked?" Hiei asked bluntly.

Kurama blinked a few times, surprised by the boldness in the black haired male's voice, and furrowed his brow.

"I don't really know. I think Kuronue took my clothes from me when I finished…**eating**. I don't really remember what happened," the redhead mumbled, shivers erupting along his spine. He pulled Hiei closer to him and tucked the human's head beneath his chin, in protection and maybe a bit of possessiveness. Kurama remembered that the last time he had seen Hiei the human had been naked, too.

Kurama pulled away from Hiei for a moment and pushed the human on to his back. Hiei stared up at Kurama for a long time, not allowing the vampire to look away, and asked with his voice in control, "What are you doing?"

Kurama raked his eyes up and down the form of the human beneath him. He smiled when he saw the cloth around Hiei's lower body and let up on his hold on the human.

Hiei sat up and quirked an eye brow at the demon. "What was that about?"

Kurama smiled and said with his voice clearer than before, "I was making sure that no one was looking at you."

"How would you know if someone was looking at me?"

"Well, you're not naked. So, I assume that no one saw your privates."

The directness in Kurama's voice made Hiei blush and tear his eyes away from the general direction the demon's voice came from. He couldn't see in the dark, and he didn't know if he could turn on any lights. Something gave Hiei the idea that Kurama could see him just fine, including the glowing crimson blush spreading from his face to his ears and neck. Hiei didn't know why he was suddenly so embarrassed. It made him feel awkward to blush around the redhead all the time when he mentioned anything that no one polite should really mention. It made Hiei uncomfortable, but he wasn't going to say anything.

Hiei crawled away from the vampire and stood up from his bed and turned his back to it.

"Well, I know that you're not dead and rotting on my bedroom floor, so I'll leave," he mumbled quickly, holding his head high.

Warm arms turned Hiei around, and Kurama pulled the human close so that he could hold him. "Please don't leave," Kurama asked softly. "You're not causing me any trouble."

Hiei rested his cheek against the demon's chest and grumbled, "That's not the point." He tried to shrug the demon's arms off him, but the hold on him was unlike anything Hiei had ever felt before. He had been held before, but the arms that had encircled him before had never held the strength and the need in them like Kurama's arms did. Yuusuke had held him plenty of times, but it had been a loose embrace, one that Hiei could have pulled out of. Kurama's was possessive and protecting. Hiei was no mind reader, but he didn't need to be one. He could **feel** Kurama's emotions and thoughts. He just didn't know how or why.

He felt a smile on the redhead's lips, and the demon spoke, "We're connected together. You can feel my thoughts, can't you?" Hiei nodded, as if his entire body was being controlled by a puppet master. "And I can feel yours," Kurama mumbled and he held on to Hiei tighter.

Hiei winced, not necessarily in pain but in something much deeper and darker, and ordered, "Let me go. I don't want this."

The demon's arms didn't loosen any, but his voice said, "Hiei, don't deny yourself this," his arms tightened more, "can't you see that you are cared for? Why do you always echo the same sentence over and over in your mind? Why do you treat it like some religious chant? Why?"

Hiei screwed his eyes shut, not wanting to hear Kurama's voice, and he yelled, "I don't know! I don't know why! Just please…" and here his knees buckled as if his strength had been sucked out of him, "don't read me anymore, Kurama. I'm not a book. Please, stay out of my head. Don't ask me anymore questions."

Kurama supported Hiei in his arms and asked, "May I ask you one more question?" Hiei didn't reply.

"If you say that you don't want any of this, then why do you love me?"

Hiei gasped and jerked his head up to stare at the vampire holding him.

"I don't!" Hiei cried as he tried to pull out of the demon's grasp.

Kurama narrowed his eyes in pity for the human in front of him and pulled Hiei back to rest against him. Kurama stroked the quivering human's back and hair as he cooed softly. They rocked back and forth from side to side and Hiei's quivering shoulder gradually grew still and his frantic breathing calmed. He rocked back and forth with the redheaded demon holding him to the same rhythm.

Kurama bent his head low and whispered gently, "I love you, Hiei. Please, don't be afraid of me."

Hiei shook madly again in Kurama's arms, but he didn't reply. He couldn't bring himself to say anything. Words escaped him as they do with so many poets that knew that beautiful words could be written by their hands, but they just wouldn't come out. And just like most poets, if made Hiei frustrated.

"How can you say that?" Hiei asked quietly, his voice almost a whisper. "How can you love something like me? You're supposed to kill me!" He ended his question with a shout.

Kurama did not stop his mothering treatment and continued what he had doing without pausing. He felt pity for the human shaking in his arms, but Kurama knew that was not what Hiei wanted from him. Especially not from him. Instead, the demon smiled sadly and asked, "Why not?"

Hiei stilled and did not give a reply. How could Kurama say that? No one had cared before. Hiei thought he didn't deserve such a caring and beautiful creature. It was absurd. But Hiei was caught between confusion and madness. No one had ever told him that they loved him. It was new, and Hiei didn't like it.

"Since when has anyone really known what they wanted, Hiei? Do you **really** know what you want?" Kurama asked.

This added to the building questions in Hiei's mind. He had never been so confused before. He had a list of rules he created for himself when he figured out that no one would make the rules for him. Not his mother, not his father, and not anyone else. His mother surly would have loved him, right? Hiei knew that his father only thought of him as a toy. So, Hiei had returned the favor and played with his father until the man had been broken with madness and had died. Hiei never thought that he had killed the man. The evil being had just been taken away from his dark torture chamber and had been rudely shoved into the bright light of a noon summer day. That was how Hiei saw it, and he was keeping to his story and his rules. There wasn't a way that Kurama could possible change them, could there?

A gasp brought Hiei out of the deepest, darkest memories stored in his mind and back in to the real world. Kurama winced heavily and ground his teeth together as he bent over slightly at the hip. Hiei stared at the demon for a long time until he found his voice again.

"Kurama? What's wrong?"

The redhead shook his head and pleaded, "Please don't think such things, Hiei. I can hear them too."

Hiei glared at Kurama and pulled away from him, his arms loosened from the sudden shock to his mind's eye.

"I told you to stop reading me! Do I look like book?" Hiei cried as he watched the demon in front of him fall to his knees.

"I'm sorry, Hiei. But I can not withdraw from your mind. If it would make you happy, I would do it. But I cannot," Kurama replied trying to regain his breath.

Hiei's eyes softened a bit, and he lowered himself to sit down in front of the redheaded demon.

"Does it really hurt you that bad when I think about my father?" Hiei asked.

Kurama glanced up at Hiei from underneath his bangs and nodded. "It is truly a dark thought, Hiei. I don't see how you can still stand without wincing."

Hiei's eyes went blank and lost all emotion suddenly. "It doesn't hurt at all. Should it?"

Kurama raised his head, his eyes darker, filled with sadness, and he nodded. "I would think it would hurt very much, Hiei. That is a deep scar on your heart and mind. Perhaps even deeper than my own."

Hiei narrowed his eyes, as if in pain, and turned away from the demon and pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his head there. "So, you're saying I'm a monster?"

Kurama pushed himself up from his hunched over position and crawled over to the still human in front of him. "You're not a monster, Hiei. You just don't know how to express these emotions," the vampire paused to wrap his arms around to the human's chest and pulled the male to rest against his chest. "You don't understand some of these emotions, and that is alright. I will help you."

Hiei shook his head and mumbled, "I don't want any help."

Kurama sighed and murmured at the human, "You're stubborn, you know that?"

Hiei lifted his head and retorted, "And you smell old."

Kurama was taken aback and he asked, "What did you say?"

Hiei set his chin down on his knees and said, "You smell like a dusty room. How old are you anyway?"

"Hiei, this had nothing to do with what we were talking about. You're changing the subject now," Kurama said as he scooted away from Hiei.

"So. I don't really want to talk about it anyway," the human mumbled as he sighed. A hand landed on his right shoulder, and Kurama said behind him, "I do love you, Hiei. I would never lie about that." Hiei shrugged the comforting hand off of his shoulder and buried his head back in his knees.

Kurama stood up and stretched his arms above his head. His upper back ached too. His wings needed a good stretch.

Hiei lifted his head and looked over when he heard a sound that sounded like cloth ripping. He turned around fully and stared, eyes wide, at what Kurama was doing.

The vampire had bent over again, his face calm and his teeth not grinding together, and his upper back jumped and squirmed as if there were bugs beneath it. The sight frightened the human, and he jumped up and called out to the demon, "What's happening, Kurama? What are you doing?"

The redhead gave no reply as he stood up straight suddenly, and two, leathery wings sprouted from his back. Hiei's eyes were wide as he stared at the two new appendages on the vampire's body.

"I…I'd forgotten that you had wings," Hiei stuttered.

Kurama stretched out the two wings on his back as far as they could go in the small room, which wasn't a very good stretch, and said, "That's alright. I never really talked to you about them. They are how I get around, besides more modern ways. I'm not Superman." This made Hiei blush. He had forgotten what he had seen when Kurama had given chase after Karasu three nights ago.

The green eyed demon smiled as he caught the embarrassed blush on the human's face and he asked, "Would you like to touch them?"

This made Hiei's blush darken a bit, and he asked, "What?"

Kurama's smile didn't waver as he asked again, "Would you like to touch them? My wings. They are real. It's not an illusion."

Hiei nodded, his eyes filled with curiosity he wasn't aware of, and took careful steps towards the winged demon.

"So, my hands won't go through them when I touch them?" Hiei asked as he walked around Kurama.

The redhead smiled to himself and he nodded. "My wings are as solid as the rest of my body."

Hiei nodded, though he really wasn't listening. It had always been a dream of his to fly. He had climbed any tree near the dungeon he had been kept in known as a house, but he had been afraid to climb down. Climbing down meant going back in to the darkness. And as a personal secret of his, he liked the sunshine. It made him warm, and he had always wanted to know if that warmth was the same as a loving warmth. The tips of his fingers brushed the leathery wings and he shivered. They didn't feel anything like a pair of leather pants or shoes. This was real leather, and it was soft to the touch.

Kurama smiled a knowing smile, feeling the joy radiating from Hiei, and turned around sharply and scooped the human in to his arms.

"What are you doing?" Hiei asked as Kurama began walking towards the closed window.

"I'm going to take you somewhere beautiful," Kurama replied as he reached for the window.

"We're going outside?" Hiei asked. He almost panicked when the demon nodded. "We both can't fit out that window, Kurama." This didn't detour the vampire any. Hiei blinked a few times, a slight ping of fear rising up in his stomach. "And besides," Hiei said in a last ditch effort, "you're naked!"

Kurama smiled and asked, "Would you really fly any other way?"

Hiei stared at the demon as if he had grown a second head that breathed fire. "No, Kurama! I think I'll be just fine on the ground," Hiei insisted.

Kurama shook his head and replied, "Nonsense! You want to fly, so I'm going to take you out so that we can fly. Now, hold on tight!"

Hiei shook his head madly and he cried as he felt himself begin to fall, "No! I wanna stay on the ground! No!"

There was a sudden rush of air and Hiei felt his stomach drop somewhere near his feet, wherever they were, and his heart leaped in to his throat. The air rushed around his head, and it toyed with his hair, whipping it around this way and that way.

Then, the air stopped rushing around and the pressure let up and Hiei felt as if his head weren't going to be crushed.

"Good. You held on tight enough," Kurama's voice rang out loudly. Hiei felt like his ears had been plugged up and they were just cleared. Kurama's voice sounded incredibly loud.

"If you thought that was funny, baka, I'll kill you. I swear," Hiei threatened as his hands found some stray hair that was not his own. He tugged on it until he felt the hairs strain to not break.

"Ouch! Hiei, please, that's my hair. Please don't pull on it," Kurama pleaded as he bent his head so that his hair wouldn't tear away from his head.

Hiei opened his eyes and tilted his head up to glare at the redhead. "Well I didn't want to be thrown out of a window with some crazy baka and have my head be crushed from the pressure, but you don't hear me complaining, do you?"

Kurama winced as Hiei tugged harder, and he pleaded, "Please, Hiei. That was because you didn't breathe when we were flying. That was your own fault."

Hiei glared harder and let go. "Uh-huh. Sure it was."

Kurama sighed as he asked, "How do you like the ocean?"

Hiei raised an eye brow and asked, "What ocean?"

Kurama jerked his head off to the side and said, "Why don't you look?"

Hiei turned his head around slowly and stared out in to the distance. The sky was still dark, but it was beginning to get brighter as the sun rose stubbornly. Below them, the ocean rose and fell with gentle waves. It was the Pacific Ocean. It was peaceful and the waves created a gentle song. The air stank of salt and fish, but it didn't bother Hiei any. He had smelt worse.

The human suddenly relaxed and rested his head against the demon's silent chest. Kurama's black wings that cut through the air created a gentle whooshing sound that added to the ocean's sound. Put together, it made a song that was more like a lullaby. It was luring Hiei to sleep. He hadn't slept well for the past four days, and his eye lids felt like they had two tons pulling on each.

Kurama smiled down at the human slumbering in his arms and he glanced up at the sunrise. It was peaceful, and a thought struck him. _When I take Hiei to live with me, where ever we're going to live, I want it to be near the ocean. He seems to like it._ The vampire sighed and stroked Hiei's back as he stared of in to the distance. The sun was just peaking over the horizon, and its golden rays burned across the surface of the ocean. Kurama winced—the rays not even at their full force burned his skin at the slightest touch.

A black dot appeared on the horizon that stood out against the sunlight. Kurama narrowed his eyes, and he tried to make out what it was. It took him a moment to recognize the youki, before he quickly turned his back to the sunlight and shouted at his companion, "Hiei! Get down."

The shouting voice in his ear shocked Hiei in to wakefulness, and he darted his eyes around, trying to find the source of Kurama's panic. A sour smell, the smell of burning flesh, filled the air after a few seconds, and it made Hiei gag. He looked behind him and saw to his horror that they were falling. Karasu had crept towards Kurama with the sun to his back, giving him an edge, and had thrown a bomb at the redhead's wings. It had spared the right one but had ripped the other completely off the demon's back. Now, Kurama and Hiei plummeted towards the ocean.

Karasu felt opportunity to play his part as an evil villain kick him in the ass, and he dove to retrieve what he came for. His long, black clothed arms reached out to Hiei, his nail scratching the human's skin and adding to the burning smell as the poison bit at the his skin. Kurama winced and tried to move Hiei away from Karasu, but he gasped at the pain that spider webbed out from his torn back and he fell unconscious from the assault. Karasu had taken that opportunity to thunder Kurama's vulnerable mind with his own. That is what caused the redhead to fall unconscious. Pain stays with you, and does not give you the option of falling unconscious. It's a stimulate, just like caffeine is.

Karasu tore Hiei from Kurama's grasp and kicked at the wounded vampire's back, causing the demon to fall even faster. Hiei reached out, his arms flailing. He pleaded in his mind for Kurama to wake up and fight back. But the demon couldn't hear Hiei's pleases. He couldn't hear the gentle flap of Karasu's wings as the black haired demon flew away, and he couldn't hear the ocean waves draw closer. All Kurama could hear was a piercing screamin in his ears that rocked his memories that he couldn't reach. They had been locked away, buried beneath spider webs. A name. A face. Silver fur and a night that had gone wrong. Betrayal, though he didn't know it yet. The red hair atop his head wasn't his own. The green eyes shedding unseen tears were not his own, either. And his name was incomplete. It wasn't just Kurama. There was another too. Ice cold water hit his burning and bleeding skin before he could dig his nails in to the memory. Gold eyes that shone brighter than any Makai treasure glared at him and burned into his soul.

_What are you doing?_ It asked. _That human is ours. Are you going to let that snake take him from us?_

Kurama's fists clenched as he sank further in to the sea.

_No,_ he answered back.

A/n: God! We now have a new chapter-that-would-not-type-itself! It shall now be known as this one! But man did I ramble on through this chapter. I hope I never have to look at it again! Never, ever! _raspberries chapter_ Bugger. I feel like S. E. Hinton! Ja!


	12. Reviving the Demon

Blue Crow

Chapter 11: Reviving the Demon

A/n: What do we do with a chapter that's a pain in the ass, pain in the ass, pain in the ass? Well, we kick it some and show it who's boss! _evol laugh_

REVIVING THE DEMON

"So you're the one he needs?" a male voice rang out in the dry, cold air.

Hiei's eyes fluttered a moment before they opened. He almost wished he hadn't. Wherever he was, it was dark. Black would have been white in comparison to this darkness. White spots flashed in front of Hiei's eyes, and he closed them again when his stomach did flips.

Something suddenly crawled up his bare leg—he noticed that his pants were gone—and circled around the limb. Spooked, Hiei tried to jerk his leg out of the foreign object's clutches, but his jerky movements only caused it to tighten its hold. Four more objects just like the first sprang out from no where and attacked the young human. Hiei struggled for a moment, trying to tear his limbs away from the clutching and grasping blobs, but in the end he had one around each of his wrists, one around each ankle, and one grasping on to his hips. Hiei felt like he was floating in the air. It sent chills down his spine to make him shutter in the blobs' hold.

The last thing he remembered was watching Kurama fall in to the ocean, a dazed glaze in his eyes as if he were sleeping with them open. Hiei had felt a horrible arrow of sorrow shoot through him when the redhead's body hit the water. It was beyond anything the human had ever felt. It was like he was dying a thousand deaths.

Foot steps and a flicker of light made Hiei open his eyes and look around at the room he was in. Karasu had lit a candle and carried it with him as he approached Hiei. His mouth was in a thin line, and his eyes burned with hatred. Hiei glared down at the demon, and tried to draw his legs closer together. The restraints around his body came to life again and squeezed him, making sure to almost cut off the blood circulation. Hiei took his eyes off of Karasu for a moment to glare down at whatever was holding him. It was the same kind of darkness that had filled the room.

"I suppose you'd like to know what they are," Karasu said. It was not a question.

Hiei remained silent and titled his head back up to glare at Karasu.

"I suppose since you will be killed eventually, I should tell you. Not that it really matters anyway. You'll succumb to the darkness soon enough," Karasu said.

Hiei glared even darker at the demon and bit the inside of his lips to make sure he didn't open his mouth and curse at the vampire. He'd been in that situation before, and it was just better to try and read what the captor wanted and oblige. That's wasn't exactly what Hiei was going to do, since it was almost impossible to read what Karasu wanted, but he had a better chance on escaping if he wasn't too rebellious.

"He hasn't told you about what he really is, has he?"

Hiei's glare didn't waver as he murmured, "Get on with it."

Karasu smirked and he set the candle down on the floor and walked closer to Hiei. The black haired vampire reached out to the human, but stopped just as his finger tips neared the human's chin.

"He doesn't have to kill me, Hiei, to become Youko again. He only needs you."

Hiei pulled his head as far back as he could and asked, "What?"

Karasu's smirk sent chills down Hiei's spine suddenly. There was something behind it that the glow of the candle behind him that gave his eyes a sinister look. There was something he knew that Hiei didn't.

"Do you really believe that he loves you?" Karasu asked in a mocking voice.

Hiei pulled his head further back again, silently shocked that Karasu knew what Kurama had only told him a while ago.

"He's a demon. A full blooded demon that only cares for himself and for what pleasures him. If it's treasure that makes him happy, he'll steal the most sacred and forbidden treasures. If it's the most beautiful maiden in the land, he will steal her and use her until he tires of her. Youko has tired of many things over the years, but he doesn't seem to care. You'll be next. The human face is only a mask to hide the true horrors that lie beneath those emerald eyes. There's a monster wait…" but Karasu was cut off as Hiei spat at him.

The human's spit landed on Karasu's upper cheek, almost in his eye, and ran down the cold skin. Hiei's glare was hotter than ever, but once again, he bit the insides of his lips to keep his mouth shut.

It was Karasu's turn to glare. He reached up and wiped the spit off of his face. He wiped the back of his hand on his pants and searched Hiei's ruby eyes for an emotion. He found anger, disgust, and fear. Fear was what he was looking for.

"You know it's true," he continued. "But, from what your weak mind defenses have revealed to me, you don't mind being used. You were quite happy with your…"

"Shut up!" Hiei roared as he began to struggle in his blob shackles. Rage and adrenaline burned through his veins as the thought of his father. Karasu had looked at his memories, his deepest secrets, things he wanted to forget. Hiei ground his teeth together and tilted his head back and roared in frustration. He despised being in situations where he was defenseless.

"You know it's true! You're father was a demon, and so are you!" Karasu shouted over Hiei's cries of anger.

Hiei stopped abruptly and stared at the vampire. "What did you say?"

Karasu smiled inwards, finally grabbing the human's attention.

"Your mother was a demon as well, Hiei. Your father was, too. You're no more human than I am."

Hiei's eyes focused and unfocused as this information hit him. He had always believed that his father was a demon, but he didn't know it was a fact. And his mother? His mother was too?

"How did you come by this information?" Hiei asked, his voice shaking which he latter cursed.

"You've known all along. You've been in denial this whole time. You've been telling yourself that you're better than your father. You're not, Hiei. He was an abuser. The only thing you are is a **whore**," Karasu spat.

Hiei shook with anger as the words echoed in his head. It was the same thing his father had called him. It hadn't been so bad back at the house, but there, in the dark surroundings, flashes of his father with his slim fingers and pointy fanged grin came to Hiei's eyes. The red eyed man closed his eyes trying to get the images out of his head, but they burned in to the back of his head. He saw his father, short blond hair and red eyes. He had been tall and slim; his fingers looked like those of a pianist. He had used them for a different purpose. To the demon's ears, he still played a kind of music with them; his son's screams and pleas for him to stop.

A horrible scream ripped through Hiei's throat as more images flashed around his head. He didn't hear Karasu approach, and he didn't feel the man's hands on his chest; pressing against the left side of it where his heart throbbed.

Suddenly, Hiei's gasped as his chest was gripped with sharp, poison emitting nails that tore through his skin. Karasu was digging his finger in to the anguishing half breed's chest, wanting to hear a scream of a different kind. One that was caused more by his actions than his words alone. Karasu grimaced, not satisfied with the half breed's cries, and twists his hand to the left slightly and then back to the right.

Hiei tossed his head back and gave out a long howl that echoed off the room's walls. The poison seeping from Karasu's nails burned the open wound, and it made Hiei shutter and bend his back arch in pain. Karasu reminded him too much of his father.

"Not even with a deadly poison targeting your heart are your thoughts fickle," Karasu mumbled more to himself than to Hiei as he pulled away.

Hiei stared at the darkness above his head for a long time. His chest throbbed with pain and he narrowed his eyes in fatigue. Memories that were years old seemed like new. Hiei knew that he was terrified of his father. It had been as natural as it was for the sun to rise every day. The half-breed thought he was rid of the menace, but the demon lurked just beyond the glow of the candle. Hiei could see him smirking. He was waiting for Karasu to leave so that he could take his son from reality and push him back in to the shadows.

Karasu slowly took his eyes off of Hiei and looked back at the candle on the floor. He had been told to cause the half demon as much sufferance as possible. "_Let's test and see if he's afraid of the dark_," Karasu thought as he bent over to pick up the candle from the floor where he had left it. The vampire turned away from Hiei and began to walk out of the room. He didn't glance over his shoulder as he heard a whimper of pain. There was not a spec of pity or sympathy for the red eyed demon who was already trying to curl up in his binds to protect himself. Karasu smirked as he reached behind him and pulled the door closed as he walked out of the room.

A/n: That wasn't too tough to write. I really couldn't find anything else to write in this chapter, so I rambled. Damn, I hate doing that. But I bet there are a lot of questions you may be asking. But, sadly, I can't tell you because then it would ruin the story! Darn! Ja!


	13. Blurry

Blue Crow

Chapter 12: Blurry

A/n: I hate staying up late to please my writer's cravings. I type most of my chapters at night right before I go to bed. All in one sitting. Blah!

BLURRY

Sometime during the period of Hiei's panic from within himself, the black blobs that had bound him hours ago released him. He still couldn't believe that he was a demon. He had been called one by many people, but he had never thought it to be true. The black haired male rested on the cold ground for a long time, not moving a muscle in his body. He stared out in to space as a feeling of déjà vu came over him. He had been in a similar situation many times before with his father.

The small child shook beneath the towering figure of his father as the man reached down with a large hand for his son.

"Come now, Hiei. Don't be difficult, or I'll have to punish you again. You wouldn't want that, would you?" the man said in a mocking parenting voice, the corners of his lips twitching into a smirk.

The small body curled up near the wall where it had been cornered. Hiei shuttered more violently than he had a moment ago. The small boy knew that voice and it scared him. He was going to be punished for not eating his diner anyway. But he refused to eat drugged food that would make him sluggish and allow his father an opportune moment. It had happened before and Hiei wasn't going to let it happen again. He'd starve to death if that's what it took.

The smirk on the man's lips died, and he reached down with anger in his movements to grab at one of his son's unprotected ankles. Hiei yelped in surprise as he was pulled upside down and tossed in the air like a doll. The little child landed in his father's arms and the man began heading for the back of the small house that they shared.

"You should have eaten your diner, Hiei. Now, you'll go hungry for the night **and** tomorrow."

Hiei kept his eyes closed as his father carried him away from the living room he had run to and back in to the bedroom they shard. After trying to run away, Jashin, Hiei's father, had made his son sleep with him in his bedroom. Hiei spent most of his nights with his father anyway, but after the child's last attempt at giving himself freedom, the arrangement became permanent.

Hiei let out the slightest of a whimper before the bedroom door shut behind his father and the true hell was revealed.

Hiei whimpered as he had when he was a small child and curled up into a ball and tried to keep warm. He didn't know why, but an over powering chill had sunken in to his skin and rooted into his bones. He had been cold since he had awakened in that place. Pushing himself off of the floor, Hiei turned his head left and right and tried to pierce the darkness of the room with his eyes. He still saw nothing. Sighing, Hiei scooted himself backwards until his back hit a wall. He pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his head there on them. He had always had some fear of the dark. His father had left him in it plenty of times.

"I was told to cause you as much pain as possible, you know," Karasu's toxic voice sounded right next to Hiei's left ear.

The young demon jumped, and as soon as he moved, he was pressed to the wall with Karasu's nails digging in to his shoulders. The hands were cold and rough. They felt like they were dead. "_Is Karasu being starved?_" Hiei wondered.

"He's even willing to maybe spare your life if you cooperate," Karasu suggested, digging his nails in deeper.

Hiei hissed, wanting to slap the depraved vampire away, but he was powerless to do anything. He had no strength to fight against Karasu.

"The wards, though you are a very weak demon with little youki, are working nicely, I see."

Hiei narrowed his eyes, barely having the strength to keep them open, and glared at Karasu with them half lidded.

"Whatever you want, I'm not listening. You can take your orders and eat them for all I care," Hiei murmured as he sank down the wall until he was lying down. Whatever Karasu had put on him—wards, were they?—were defiantly working.

"I see I'll have to take drastic measures. Kuronue was correct. You **do** have a mouth on you."

Hiei opened his eyes a bit wider and asked in surprise, "Who? That vampire that saved Kurama? How do you know about him?"

"He's the one that wants you dead, my play thing. You see, he's a rather jealous and possessive demon. He's naturally a vampire. He was born that way. He wants revenge on me for taking the youko away from him and turning him in to a human. He's going to kill me once I kill you," Karasu explained.

"Why does he want me dead? What have I done?" Hiei asked, his voice not wavering in the slightest.

Karasu smirked and drew his poison gushing nails out of the sluggish body beneath his own. "It took Kuronue quite a while to find Kurama once he was in a more human form. I killed Youko—if that's what you'd like to say I did—and he took the form of a redhead human. A woman wondering through the forest about four hundred years ago, who was pregnant at the time, was his vessel until the baby was born and his soul stuck within it. She raised him, being the ignorant human she was, and cared for him. That is why he is so weak minded and full of sympathy. Later, if my information is correct, he killed her from lack of blood intake. He fled the village where the villagers he had come to care for and protect hunted him down. Later, about three hundred years after that, Kuronue found Kurama once more and they have been together since. Once Kuronue discovered that it was me who had killed his one true love, he wanted me dead. I naturally hid myself for some time until I thought it was safe. Meanwhile, Kurama had fallen in love with a human that you were reincarnated from—this is only speculation, put I'm pretty sure that it's true—and this made Kuronue jealous. So, he killed the human and this put Kurama in to a mood of disappear. He never loved Kuronue, and I'm not sure why Kuronue even does. I knew Youko well and…."

"I get the idea, stop talking. Your voice is annoying," Hiei mumbled as he cut Karasu off.

"You wanted to know. I was only explaining everything I know," Karasu said, his voice sounding irritated when he was cut off.

"You like to hear yourself talk, don't you?" Hiei asked, hoping to annoy the vampire.

Karasu glared at Hiei for a moment before he stood up and gave a hard kick to the demon's side.

Hiei winced, his senses numbed by the lack of energy, and he closed his eyes so that he wouldn't have to look at Karasu.

Karasu's face twisted into a cruel smirk as he focused his energy in to drawing out the black blobs that had held the half-breed before. They materialized as a result of Karasu's commands, and they quickly found their target.

Hiei struggled only for a moment before the blobs got a good hold on him, and they lifted him in to the air. The red eyed demon whimpered within his mind as he felt the blobs secrete some kind of liquid as they began to slid around his body. Hiei bit his bottom lip and chewed on it to keep from saying anything or whimpering.

One of the blobs became bold with its slithering and rubbed experimentally against one of its target's nipples. Hiei bit down on his lip harder, trying to keep his sounds inside and make sure that Karasu didn't have the satisfaction of hearing his cries of pleasure.

Karasu's smile lingered as if carved from stone and a glaze made his eyes come alive from their dormant state. He watched, intrigued, as Hiei squirmed to try and get away from the touches as the black blobs that became bolder and bolder with each touch. Karasu focused on them again and made one, the thickest and largest of the multiple blobs, search out for the half-breed's entrance.

The thickest of the blobs squirming over Hiei's body crawled away from the others and slithered down the poor demon's torso. Hiei felt this movement, but he wasn't able to pay much attention to it. He had bitten through his lip and blood then pooled in to his mouth. Hiei opened his mouth to let out a sigh as he shivered in pleasure, not understanding why Karasu would be doing such a thing. Suddenly, the short demon's mouth was invaded by one of the blobs that had been dancing up near his ear and had rubbed some of the sticky sappy stuff in to his hair.

Hiei gasped as the blobs suddenly started secreting even more liquid when it was in his mouth. He had no choice but to swallow. Hiei squeezed his eyes shut from the tangy and bitter taste the liquid had, and he moaned around it. Hiei arched his back suddenly when the searching blob that was trying to find his entrance bumped in to his growing erection. The curious blob wrapped around the organ and squeezed it.

Hiei moaned louder from around the blob that had forced its way in to his mouth and almost leaned in to its touch. He hadn't noticed how aroused he was by the soft and oddly warm touches the blobs had. It almost felt nice.

The blob that had wound itself around Hiei's erection suddenly unraveled itself. Hiei moaned at the loss, but he quickly leaned in to a new touch as a thinner blob took the thicker one's place. Hiei didn't know why the two blobs had traded places, but he really couldn't have made a coherent thought if he had wanted to. The warmth and softness of the black things that slithered on his body like overly friendly snakes were inviting and they didn't hurt him at all.

Hiei quickly rethought that as the blob that had first fondled his penis suddenly rammed itself rudely in to his body via his rear. Hiei's eyes flashed open and he opened his mouth up wider as he arched his back and let out a low scream that was smothered by the gag in his mouth.

Karasu's smirk widened and revealed his fangs and pearly white teeth. The depraved vampire licked his lips as he took slow steps towards the suffering demon that was suspended in the air. He reached up at the blob that had forced its way in to the small demon and yanked it out just as rudely as it had been pushed in.

Hiei threw his head back and let out another low scream that echoed off of the walls in the room. Jashin had done that to him plenty of times with a long list of objects. Some of which didn't even fit and sometimes tore him open. Jashin hadn't cared about his cries and pleases for mercy, but continued with what he had been doing to his son.

"Please, do cry louder," Karasu taunted. "Your cries of pain please me more than you shivers of pleasure."

Hiei cracked open an eye and pulled his left hand to where Karasu could see it and gave the vampire the finger.

Karasu smiled, not what Hiei was expecting, from the reaction he had gotten and moved to stand between the demon's spread legs. He encouraged the blobs to pull their captive's legs further apart and lift them higher. Karasu locked his eyes with Hiei, knowing that his enchanting gaze would grab the demon and make him succumb to his demands.

"Kuronue never said anything about **not** killing you. Maybe I should just fuck you to death as blood runs from your hole. How's about that?" the dark haired vampire suggested with a smile.

Hiei glared at the vampire and bit down roughly on the gag in his mouth. The blob squirmed to get away and Hiei unlocked his teeth from around it and spat at Karasu before he yelled at the man, "Fuck you!"

Karasu reached up and wiped away the spit from his cheek and then wiped it on his pants. He contained his glare within him, wanting to slap and knock the red eyed demon around for a while before he killed him, but he controlled himself and smiled again.

Karasu continued to lock his eyes with Hiei's as he tugged on the button and zipper on his pants. He reached in to his pants and pulled himself out of them. His smirk grew and his fangs shined from under his lips.

"You do have quite a naughty mouth. Maybe I should slaughter you now," Karasu mumbled as he grasped Hiei's ankles in his hands and dragged the little demon closer.

Hiei's eyes widened and he began to try and kick at Karasu, but the vampire quickly dug his nails deep within the younger demon's ankles. Hiei hissed and tore his eyes away from Karasu, feeling his body already being drowned from the vampire's enchantment.

Karasu licked his lips once more as he lifted Hiei's legs over his shoulders. The black haired demon grasped the red eyed man's hips roughly and pressed on the skin to leave bruises. Karasu pulled Hiei closer to him and rubbed their erections together. The vampire watched, pleased, as Hiei squeezed his eyes shut and tried to block out the arousal he felt begin to grow again between his legs.

Karasu finally stopped smirking as he lifted Hiei's hips up and drove in to the tight half-breed.

Hiei threw his head back once more as he screamed out in pain as he felt his insides split from the intrusion. Blood seeped from him, and it substituted as a lubricant. But Hiei still felt every thrust Karasu gave as he was impaled again and again.

The snow fell and compacted beneath the redhead's feet as he struggled to continue walking. His limbs felt frozen and his back still ached. "_Damn Karasu to a thousand deaths in hell,"_ Kurama thought as he pulled his thicker clothing tighter to his body. He could hear Kuronue walking behind him, but he tried to pay the other demon no mind. "_I've got to find Hiei,"_ the redhead thought as he stumbled through the snow.

"Please, Kurama. Let's go back. There is no hope of getting anywhere in this…"

"Be quiet! I don't feel like listening to you right now!" Kurama shouted over the wind that picked up and made his lips split and bleed.

"But we'll never find anything in this storm!" Kuronue shouted back.

Kurama looked over his shoulder at his companion, his eyes blood shot from not sleeping for four days. He shut them for a moment, shook his head to try and wake himself up, and then he began trekking through the snow once more.

"This is insane, Kurama! We don't even know where Karasu took Hiei. What makes you think he's anywhere near here? What makes you think he's still alive?" Kuronue shouted.

Kurama stopped walking, standing in the snow that was up to his knees, and he shivered violently. "_If the snow wasn't so high,"_ he thought, "_I'd fall to my knees from exhaustion."_

"I know he's still alive, Kuronue. I can feel him. Karasu's hiding place is over the snow fields and through the mountains that are near by. After that, it's nothing but desert for miles around. Then, beyond the desert, there is a lush forest. That is the place where Karasu's fortress once was. I was kept there for almost two years before I escaped. Then, that's when I died. He took Hiei there. He had to." Then the vampire sighed as he said more to himself than his companion, "The Makai terrain is so much more different than that of the Ningenkai's. Japan is so…," there he paused and chuckled sadly a few times, a single tear ran down his face before freezing to the skin it covered, "**boring**." Then they continued on, and Kuronue kept his thoughts to himself.

A/n: Need sleep, please….Ja.


	14. Knocking on Death’s Door

Blue Crow

Chapter 13: Knocking on Death's Door

A/n: Foreshadowing! Pay attention to the chapter title, but not too much. Teehee! "Riddle me this…" I really don't care for those movies. _shrugs_ Oh well.

KNOCKING ON DEATH'S DOOR

They had managed to get through the snow field that seemed to make them go in circles. Once Kurama had found a safe place to rest, though he said he'd only sleep for a few hours, he had collapsed and had not waken up until two days later. The redhead had been furious with Kuronue for letting him sleep that long. There was no telling what Karasu could have done to Hiei by then. Kurama had been frantic and egger to get moving once more, but Kuronue had stopped him.

"There's no reason to be in such a hurry," Kuronue mumbled and he pulled his partner close. He sighed as he buried his nose in the kitsune's hair.

Kurama struggled to push Kuronue away, but the taller man wouldn't let go. "Kuronue, please let go. I have to find…"

"That's enough!" Kuronue shouted as he pushed the redhead in his arms to the floor.

Kurama landed softly on his right side and kept his eyes off of Kuronue.

"Is he all that you care about? Why are you so egger to find him? What if Karasu already killed him?" Kuronue asked as he towered over his friend. When Kurama didn't reply, Kuronue closed his eyes in frustration and sighed again. The taller man sank to his knees, straddling his shorter friend, and pulled the redhead in to an embrace.

Trying to persuade the other male to forget about the **filthy** little half-breed he was so content on saving, Kuronue pulled Kurama closer and mumbled over the top of his head, "I love you, Kurama. More than anything. Why can't you just be happy with what you've had all along?"

Kurama glared at Kuronue, though the male himself couldn't see, and Kurama murmured back, "I told you, I just don't like you that way. I'm sorry, but I've fallen…."

"Don't say that!" Kuronue cut his friend off. He squeezed the man in his arms and whispered in his ear, "You haven't done anything to him yet. Why don't you just let Karasu have him?"

Kurama ground his teeth together as he gathered his strength and pushed himself away from Kuronue, rage making his eyes darker. "Karasu did unimaginable things to me when I was with him. I won't let him do those things to Hiei. I won't let Karasu have what I want. I refuse!" And with his exclamation, Kurama fled from the cave Kuronue and he had shared. He didn't bother to look back and he didn't respond when he heard Kuronue call out his name.

Hiei's eyes just wouldn't open. No matter now much he wanted them to, his eye lids wouldn't obey him. "_Okay, they're either stuck together from all the crying I did, or maybe my eyes are already open, and I just do know it,"_ Hiei thought to himself as he rolled over in the bed Karasu had placed him in after raping him in the dark room he had spent hours, maybe even days, in. The bed was very large and could comfortable rest five or six people without having any of their body parts touch. There were dark violet sheets that covered the bed, and Hiei had begun to think that maybe Karasu had a fetish with the colors black and violet.

His lower body ached from the abuse it had suffered. Hiei could feel the dried and caked blood on his thighs as he turned over to lie on his stomach. He didn't want anything putting weight on his bum. He didn't even feel the sheets. Hiei squeezed his eye lids together for a few minutes, trying to get the crusted tears off of his eye lashes. He had been crying for hours after Karasu had left him alone. Hiei had begun to think that he wouldn't ever stop crying. But, once he was asleep, the poison in his body beginning to have its affect on him, he had stopped crying, and he hadn't shed a tear since.

Cracking open his eyes, though it hurt to open them because they were so dry, Hiei looked around the room he was in. Karasu had carried him there and had said that he would die in about a day or so. Strangely, that fact didn't make Hiei scared at all. He almost felt relieved. He could feel the poison course through his body, and it had numbed almost every part of him. Finally taking notice to the room, Hiei noted that there were torches that gave light to the room. It wasn't very dark, but it wasn't blindingly bright either. The lit torches gave the room a soft look to it. It comforted Hiei to know that he wouldn't die in the dark. It plucked a heart string of his that he **would** die alone, and he would never get to tell Kurama that he loved him. It almost made him want to start crying again, but there weren't any tears left for him to cry.

Hiei winced suddenly and clutched where his heart was. He closed his eyes again and whimpered. The poison was spreading faster than he imagined it would. The pain wasn't that intense yet. It came in small bursts now and again. But the last one made Hiei think that his end was closer than what Karasu had said it would be. "_I won't last,_" he though. "_I'll die sooner than Karasu said. That bastard."_

Kuronue and Kurama tumbled to the sand and they wrestled for a moment before Kuronue got in control and pinned his smaller partner to the sandy desert floor.

"This is insane. I won't let you continue on," Kuronue cried, glaring down at the redhead that glared back at him.

Kuronue sighed then and bent over his partner, not being able to with hold his temptation and whispered just before their lips met, "I love you."

Kurama glared at Kuronue and bit down on his tongue when the man tried to slip it into his mouth.

Kuronue winced and pulled back, reaching up to wipe away the blood dripping from his chin. "Why don't you accept my love for you? That half-breed can never understand you like I do."

Kurama shook his head and tried to sit up, but Kuronue slammed him back onto the ground. The redhead hissed as his injured back was crushed in to the ground beneath him.

Kuronue lightened up on his death hold on the redhead beneath him and pleaded, "Please, Kurama. Let's go home."

Kurama shook his head and rasped through his throbbing back pain, "No, Kuronue. I can't. I have to save Hiei."

"Well, I don't want you to!" Kuronue shouted and brought his hand back to strike his shorter friend.

Kurama's head was tossed to the side from the blow, and he lay still for a long time.

Kuronue smiled down at his still partner and bent over the redhead to kiss down his throat. He paused at the junction of Kurama's neck and shoulder and was about to bite in to the skin when a powerful blow to the side of his head made him get off of his partner. He rolled on to his side and came to rest on his back.

Kurama had raised his fist up and had struck Kuronue in the side of the head. He then rose up to his knees and dug around in his hair for a seed he had placed there earlier. Channeling some youki into the seed, it grew in to a long, grass like blade with a sharp point. Kurama really didn't want to hurt Kuronue, but he had to save Hiei before anything else was done. Kurama closed his eyes and plunged the grass blade sword downward to stab Kuronue.

Kuronue gasped and spat up blood as he stared at his most beloved kitsune. He reached up for the fox demon and rasped, "Kurama…how could….you?"

Kurama kept his eyes closed and let the sword go as he stood up and began running away. He ignored Kuronue's cries and put his hands over his ears to drown out the vampire's cries for him to come back.

Hiei's eyes fluttered as he tried to keep them open. He was beginning to see odd things and hallucinate. Flashes of light and warped images flashed before his eyes and made them want to roll in to the back of his head. He had had a few seizures before his eyes had begun to flutter, and different parts of his body twitched now and again. His end was near and he could feel it. He was in true pain then.

Hiei's eyes began to water as tears surfaced in his eyes once more. A black and red image flashes before his eyes. With a jerky arm, he reached out above him and cried with tears rolling down his face, "Kurama…you promised you wouldn't leave me without...," he had to paused because of a coughing spell. He got over it and finished, "saying good-bye."

A/n: Why do I like making Hiei suffer so much? _hugs pillows_ I am just the meanest person! Whaaa! _cries_ Ja.


	15. Anyway I Love You, Now I Know the Way

Blue Crow

Chapter 14: Anyway I Love You, Now I Know the Way

A/n: I love that song. The chapter of the chapter isn't the song; it's lyrics from the song. _muah_ Enjoy the….I'm not telling you! You'll have to read.

ANYWAY I LOVE YOU, NOW I KNOW THE WAY

The doors to the tall and partly concealed fortress that lay deep within the thickest part of the forest burst open. Kurama stumbled only once from the doors falling open when he least expected, but he quickly regained his footing. Blood and poison seeped from a dart wound in his neck that he had received when running through the forest, but he didn't even wince at it. The rotting and nose burning scent of Karasu made Kurama want to destroy everything around him. It was infuriating to be near the violet man. It made the kitsune's stomach do flips.

A sudden cry of pain of the darkest kind came from deep within the belly of the fortress. Kurama's eyes widened as he recognized the cry, and he made a mad dash for the source of the sound. Hiei was still alive! That really didn't mean anything good, but he was still alive, and there was a chance that he could be saved. Everything around the fox blurred as tears stung his eyes, and his deep sorrow made him run faster. "_Karasu must die,"_ he thought with a snarl. "_If not for my personal revenge, then for Hiei. I will never forgive myself if Hiei dies."_

Karasu smirked from the shadows in the bedroom that would soon be a grave. It already reeked of death. Hiei wasn't dead yet, but he didn't have long to live. Karasu enjoyed the half-breed's suffering. It was an appetizer for what was to come. The dark vampire had felt the youki of his true desire enter the trap he had set. Kurama would follow in the footsteps of his small whore who already had one foot in his grave. Karasu couldn't believe how simple it had been to trap the little fox. "_All that it took was the kidnapping of the little brat, and he came running,"_ Karasu thought as his sickening smile crept back onto his thin lips. Hiei had finally stopped moving around, the seizures stopping, and his heartbeat barely made a peep.

Another set of wooden doors burst open with surprising force, and Kurama stumbled again. He fell to his knees and pounded his fists on the black marble floor. "_This damn place is making me run around in circle! I'll never find my beloved this way,"_ Kurama thought as his shoulders shook.

"Hiei…I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry you had to die alone," the kitsune murmured as his shoulders shook with a stronger force.

"Oh, he won't die alone. You'll follow him, someday."

Kurama's head shot up from where he had cradled it in his arms, and he glared at the dark vampire.

"Long time no see, Youko," Karasu snickered as he saw the fox's eye twitch.

"I have no attachment to that name," Kurama growled as he pushed himself off of the ground. He glared at the other vampire, hoping his eyes reflected the burning hatred he felt inside.

"You will tell me where you have hidden Hiei, or I will make you tell me," Kurama ordered with his voice getting louder with every word.

"A big order for someone who's already dead," Karasu said as he silently disappeared in to the darkness.

A long period of silence stretched itself out as Kurama rooted himself to the floor of the fortress. He would not be beaten by Karasu again. He had fallen to the vampire once, and he would **not** do it again. There was too much at stake for Kurama to lose.

"Isn't it funny when you know that you're going to die, yet you still fight as if you are going to win," Karasu murmured as if he were everywhere at once.

Kurama growled and thought to himself, not wanting to give Karasu the pleasure of knowing that he was angry, "_Coward, you should come out and fight me if you have such accusations in your head."_

"Gladly," was the dark reply.

Out of a corner of the room, Karasu came out from his hiding place and tried to attack his opponent.

Kurama narrowed his eyes in the darkness and jumped out of the way and hid himself in the shadows. He didn't like using a vampire technique—he didn't believe he was one of them—but with the elements he was in, there was no other choice. He didn't think his body could take a transformation when he was so weak. Even if he could, he would probably die when he came out of it.

"_I have to do something. Using the darkness is not something I'm familiar with. And I can't hear any voices from the plants around the castle, so I can't use them either,"_ Kurama thought with a grimace. He would have to chance a transformation. But the last time he had done it, he couldn't depict who was his target and who wasn't. Kurama shook his head to rid himself of the screams and cries in his head that shouted at him. He was **not** going to relive that moment. But, there was no other way.

Building up his youki, Kurama was going to attempt his transformation, when suddenly Karasu jumped at him from behind and slammed his interlocked fists on the back of Kurama's neck.

"You're not playing fair, Kurama. You're not allowed to transform. Besides, you look **so **much prettier this way," Karasu taunted as he chased after the falling fox's body.

Kurama's body hit the ground with an ungraceful thud. The back of his head throbbed, and his mind bordered on unconsciousness. "_No…I can't lose now. Hiei needs me,"_ Kurama thought as he rolled himself over as Karasu landed with a shake where he had been.

Pushing himself off of the ground, Kurama flung himself in to the darkest corner of the room he could find and hid there, carefully gathering his energy.

Karasu smirked at what Kurama was doing, thinking it foolish and fruitless, but humoring him anyway.

"He was very interesting to fuck, you know," the crow taunted as he walked around the room in slow strides.

"He had been touched before, but I didn't mind. He made some very pretty noises, too. I think he was thinking that you were inside him instead of me," Karasu said with a smirk as he felt a flash of youki. He could have attacked the fox, but he wanted a greater challenge.

"And such beautiful tear gems he cries. They're black instead of blue. Did you know that?"

Kurama gritted his teeth as he tried not to listen to Karasu. He knew it would just make him angrier. He didn't need to become blind with rage when trying to transform. If he didn't lose his human like body before he found Hiei, he might kill the young demon on accident. Kurama felt the skin on his back begin to quiver as his one wing began to emerge. The one Karasu had destroyed would never grow back, but he didn't need two. He would be able to slay Karasu with only one. Kurama didn't think that Karasu could transform, but if he could, then the fight would be all over before it ever began.

"I really wish you had been here to watch us, Kurama. I like your body much better than his, but given my options, I think he was a rather pleasurable demon. Too bad you didn't get a taste of the forbidden. It tastes quite lovely," Karasu taunted some more, wanting to crush the kitsune with the secret his "friend" Kuronue was keeping from him.

"Kuronue seems to be a very jealous and possessive demon, wouldn't you agree?"

Kurama blocked out the other demon as best he could as his single wing began to break through his clothing and skin.

"He wasn't too fond of that human you fell in love with all of those years ago. I don't think he likes the little rat's reincarnation, either."

Kurama faltered as he heard Karasu's last words. He remembered **that** human. He had felt such yearning for the human. But, he had died and Kurama had thought that he would never love again. "_Did…did Kuronue kill him? Did he arrange this?"_ Kurama asked himself. The kitsune quickly shook his head, not wanting to believe it was true. Kuronue had been by his side for so long. "_It's just not possible,"_ Kurama thought. But, the rest of his thoughts were lost as another side of him took over and his wing sprouted from his back and his leathery tail sprang from his lower back. The vampire tilted his head back and gave a tremendous cry of anguish as he finally transformed in to a more demon like version of a vampire.

Karasu braced himself as a bright light flooded the room from the gathered, raw energy that Kurama emitted. No vampire before him could handle such an energy. The energy was too bright of a light and too pure for a vampire to handle safely. "_Yes, let's kill each other, Kurama. I would enjoy taking you from that possessive bat of a demon,_" Karasu thought as he covered himself more thoroughly with his hanging robes. Once the light dimmed some, Karasu uncovered his eyes, but he soon met with a force no intelligent man could, or would have, called anything but evil. Kurama's eyes had narrowed and his pupils were tiny slits in his irises. His fangs were long and showed from beneath his upper lip. His nails, which were in position to strike, had grown long and radiated their own poisonous toxin. His ears had grown longer and were pointed at the tips. That was the true form of a vampire. Most masqueraded around, looking like humans, talking like humans, and even going as far as to **smell** like humans. Some of them didn't even know about their transformed states. Even if they did, most of the vampire race didn't choose willingly to run around in that form.

Karasu hissed as Kurama's long nails dug deeply in to his skin. The nails immediately began spewing the toxins in to its victim's body, making the skin around the area where Karasu had been wounded turn black and die. The longer a vampire contains the toxin its nails eject, the more poisonous it becomes. From the potency and the smell of rotting flesh, Karasu would have had to say that after Kurama had killed his human mother and a few other villagers, he had been determined **not** to use that form again.

Karasu's eyes widened a bit when Kurama grabbed a fist full of his long black hair and gave it a tug that almost ripped the strands right out of his head. The dark demon's neck was fully exposed to his predator, and Kurama took advantage of this. Bending down, he savagely bit and tore at Karasu's exposed throat, trying to kill him as quickly as possible.

Karasu, having slight panicked, took a fist full of Kurama's red hair and pulled and yanked on it, but the vampire atop him refused to release his neck. Narrowing his eyes in pain, Karasu's body went slack. Kurama did not release him until he felt the other demon's soul wither and die from within the shell of a body. Wrinkling his nose at the bad taste in his mouth, Kurama finally released Karasu from his grasp and let the already rotting body fall to the castle floor. Spiting on the corpse, Kurama reached up to wipe the blood from his chin, but was instantly surprised when he set eyes upon a hand that was not his. Staring in slight fear of the long and gleaming nails and demonic hand, the vampire glanced at his other and noticed it too was changing. Something throbbed in the redhead's chest, and he was forced to his knees from the intense pain that came out of nowhere.

Clutching at where his heart began to beat once more, Kurama flopped himself on to his back to stare up at the sky through a hole in the ceiling. The dark clouds that had once naturally gathered over Karasu's palace were beginning to clear.

Smiling a sorrowful smile to himself, with tears streaming down his face, Kurama said quietly, "I see now. My heartbeat has returned to me once more. The demon spirit within me is free." He then chuckled to himself cruelly and mumbled before his eyes fluttered closed, "I never got to say good-bye to you…Hiei." He paused to sniffle and let one single sob slither out between his lips. "Can you ever forgive me, my love?"

End…..

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You thought it was the end, didn't you? _muah_ Well, my pretties, there shall be an epilogue. God, I don't see how I'll ever be able to write that damn thing when it took me a month to write, edit, and finish this one. Will both of our bishies die? _pauses_ Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on what kind of mood I'm in, doesn't it? _muah_ You shall all bow before me and beg for an epilogue! No, you don't have to. I'll write one even it I have to get a latex glove, some castor oil, and pull an idea out of my ass! So, there. Ja!


	16. Epilogue: For Longer Than Forever

Blue Crow

Epilogue from Hell: For Longer Than Forever

A/n: Okay, this totally pisses me off. I know, that after I edited this, that I added all this crap before the story. And when I checked the chapter to get the chapter name, not a god damn beginning author note in sight, bitches. That's corn-rolled, man. Fuckin' corn-rolled. Stupid thing. I remember savin' the little bastards, too. Bastards. I hope you like this epilogue from hell.

EPILOGUE FROM HELL: FOR LONGER THAN FOREVER

The peaceful look upon the small demon's face made small tears run down the fox's face. He had awoken and had followed the scent of his little love to a chamber that smelled so horrible to such a sensitive nose like his that he heaved the contents of his stomach painfully. After recovering from the atrocious smelling chamber, Youko Kurama moved on and kept his nose to the moist rocks upon which his four legs trotted on. The scent was faint, but he could smell Hiei mixed with Karasu. The kitsune wrinkled his nose at the smell, wishing he could forever rid himself of that man. But soon, the silver fox found the door to the room at which the two scents went through. Shaking himself off, the fox rose up and in a flash was in his humanoid form. His eyes, looking neither hopeful nor happy, shed small tears as he reached up and pushed on the door to open it.

Hiei's small body lie peacefully on the black sheet covered bed. No sign of life came from him, and this made Kurama's tears burn his eyes to the point where he had to blink them out. The fox hesitated for only a moment, before he made quick bounds towards his love. Upon reaching him, the kitsune began to gently shake at the small demon, hoping that Hiei was only playing dead.

"Hiei! Hiei, please, wake up. You don't have to pretend anymore. Karasu is dead! It's me, Kurama. Don't you remember?" the silver fox pleaded as more tears ran down his face and his voice slowly rose in pitch because of the urge to sob out his internal sorrow 1. The kitsune gently shook his love once more, sobbing out his name before he bent his head and rested it near the demon's body.

Closing his eyes, trying to stop his tears, Kurama murmured once before enfolding his head in his arms, "I'm sorry, my love."

Much time passed and the lonely kitsune staid by his lover's corpse. It had been about two or three hours before Kurama was disturbed from his mourning. Sadly, for whoever disturbed him, the silver fox was in no mood to be disturbed. He had an urge to kill, the only way he felt he could deal with his loss, and was standing up to fight whoever was trying to get the door open.

Pushing the door open with some difficulty, Kuronue winced as he fell to his knees, exhausted from walking and disturbing his wound.

Kurama stared at his partner for a long time before he said, "Kuronue….What are you doing here?"

Kuronue looked up, shocked at the sound of the voice he heard, before he stuttered out, "Youko….You're here! Karasu must have died. What about the boy?"

Kurama wanted to wrinkle his nose at the tone Kuronue had used, but he resisted the urge, and he said softly, "Hiei is dead."

Kuronue's eyes lit up at the mention of Karasu following his orders. "Dead? Are you sure?"

The silver beauty glared at his partner for a moment before he cried, "Yes! He is dead. Are you happy now? My happiness is gone. Completely gone! Are you happy, Kuronue? Did you want him dead so that you could have me!" Kurama didn't mean to yell, be he couldn't help being angry. Hiei was his everything. He hadn't known Hiei long, personally, but he was well aware of the fact that he was the reincarnation of the human he had once pursued long ago. That human boy had been taken away from him, and he thought that he could never be happy again. Once Hiei came along, though, Kurama thought he had a chance again. It was gone too, and it was either a coincidence, or something was happening that he didn't know about. And he smelt something foul.

Kuronue shook his head as he struggled to stand up. He rose to his feet, hissing through his ground together teeth only once, before he shuffled closer to the kitsune.

"It's not like that at all, Kurama. I only wanted you to be happy. I think I can make you forget about him," Kuronue murmured as he pulled the reluctant kitsune in to his embrace. "He was only a little half breed anyway."

Kurama's eyes widened for a moment when he caught a strand of Kuronue's scent. He could smell the rotting and burning flesh odor that was Karasu. It wasn't from him just being in the castle. Kuronue had been there and had **staid** there for an extended period of time.

Suddenly blinded by an intense wave of rage, the silver kitsune pushed Kuronue away roughly and quickly manifested a few boughs of bamboo to shoot through the castle floor and up to the place where Kuronue had landed after being pushed. The shoots skewered the vampire and his mouth hung open in a silent cry. Little vines sprung from the shoots and slowly dug themselves in to the demon's body. Kuronue hung on the shoots in withering pain, Kurama standing a few paces away, glaring hatred and betrayal Kuronue's way.

"You had planned this from the beginning, didn't you?" the enraged fox asked as he forced the vines to twist in to the vampire's body. He had hated Karasu with everything in his being, but nothing was compared to the hatred he felt towards Kuronue for such a betrayal as the one he had committed.

Kuronue gasped, not knowing just how to react to his discovery. He finally stuttered out, knowing that Kurama would kill him no matter what he said. The brat's smell was what probably had given him away.

"You smelt him on me, didn't you? I watched Karasu rape him. I could see everything from the edges of my mind. And I could feel the little wench's pain. I could feel Karasu…" but the sentence was never completed because Kurama didn't want to hear anymore. A thorny rose had sprung from his palm, the seed having been almost buried in his skin from his fingered pressing on it in anger. Not wanting to here the dead man babble anymore, he had changed it into the signature whip for which he was famous for and had quickly ended his long time partner in crime's life.

Tears of anger ran down the fox's face as he glared at the plants that grew to hide the decomposing body from view.

"He was going to be mine, Kuronue. And now I have nothing. If you had really wanted me to be happy, you would have let us go," Kurama said with increasing difficulty as he began to shake.

"What did he ever do to deserve this!" he cried, shaking with self-anger and sorrow. "Hiei didn't deserve this! He didn't deserve to live for so long with such burdens on his heart and then be killed and left in the dark!" The kitsune threw his head back, glaring at the ceiling and he cried, "You should have taken me! You should have let him live!" Kurama's shoulders slumped as he sank to his knees, bending over as he sobbed in to his arms, "It should have been me…it should have been me…."

3 MONTHS LATER

He didn't really know where he was. Wherever he was, it was warm. Something soft—Fur? Hair?—was brushing against his side. The rhythm of breathing was all around him. The softness that brushed against his side was all around his head, too. Was he naked? He must have been. A musky smell drowned him, but he didn't mind. It was…old, dusty, and earthy. It reminded him a bit of roses, too.

"_You smell like a dusty room."_

It couldn't have been. The scent was too earthy to be Kurama's. Besides…Kurama was alive and living. He wasn't.

The soft body around his head sifted and began to awaken from its slumber. Opening his eyes, Hiei looked around him, noticing that it was warm where he was, and it had been cold where he had been left to die. Silver fur tickled his nose and he wiggled it, trying to prevent himself from sneezing. But, it didn't help any, and the small demon sneezed anyway. Instantly, the fury animal lying next to him raised its head in alarm, thinking that the demon it was guarding was in trouble.

Hiei sniffled and look up, finally coming face to face with what had been lying around his body. The silver—was it a fox or a dog?—animal cocked its head to one side and stared at Hiei with its narrow golden eyes. Hiei, almost shyly, reached towards the animal and let it sniff his hand.

"What are you? A fox? A dog?" Hiei asked, wanting to pull his hand away when the creature began to lick it.

"You almost seem to be too big to be a dog. You must be a fox," Hiei murmured to himself as the fox, being rather friendly, stepped closer to the demon and knocked him onto his back.

Hiei stared up at the fox as it towered over him, its eyes gleaming. The red-eyed male yelped when the fox suddenly bend down and began licking at his face. The large canine made loud whimpering sounds and began to make a barking noise 2 as it tried to smother Hiei in its thick fur.

"You aren't going to bite me, are you?" Hiei asked, feeling share teeth nip at his ear lobe and neck. Hiei suddenly cried out as the fox bit him too hard and its teeth broke through the skin on his shoulder. As soon as the small demon yelped, the fox came to a halt, still whimpering, and Hiei froze.

"Please don't bite me," Hiei whispered as he closed his eyes and tried to shy away from the large body above his own.

"I'm sorry, Hiei. I was just so happy to see that you finally woke up."

Opening his eyes, not recognizing the deep voice that thundered atop him, Hiei stared, his eyes wide and fearful, as he looked upon the most beautiful creature he had ever met.

"Who are you?" Hiei asked, shuffling away from the silver haired being. The small youkai didn't know where the fox that had bitten him had gone off to, but he knew that he had felt much more comfortable with the fox than this man.

The narrow gold eyes softened as did the male's voice. "Hiei, don't you recognize me? Don't you remember who I am?"

Hiei looked the male over once more before he shook his head a few times. "No. I've never met you before. How do you know my name?"

The silver man bit on his lower lip before he said cautiously, looking like he was choosing his words wisely before speaking. "Hiei…You've never seen this body before, but you must believe me when I tell you that I **am** Kurama."

Hiei's eyes widened a bit before he scooted further away.

Kurama's gold eyes narrowed and gleamed with tears as he reached towards his love and said, "Hiei…Please don't. Don't be afraid."

"No! You are an imposter. Kurama doesn't look like this! He doesn't sound like this! You are not him," Hiei cried. He pushed himself up from the soft place on the ground he had been lying on and proceeded to run away. He was stopped short when his legs gave out beneath him and he crashed back to the floor.

"Hiei!" the silver kitsune cried as he rushed to the small demon's side.

"Don't touch me!" Hiei retorted when Kurama reached for him. "Don't…"

"Hiei, I don't understand why you are being so resistant. Did I do something to make you hate me?" the kitsune asked his and tried to reach for him again.

"I said don't!" the small demon cried again, fearing what this man could do to him.

"Hiei, please! I'm not going to hurt you. You know who I am!" Kurama pleaded, years welling up in his eyes. Despite his lover's cries for him to stay away, the fox reached out and held one of Hiei's small, trembling hands in his own and pressed it to his face and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you! I'm sorry that I let this happen. Please don't hate me, Hiei. I tried my hardest to save you in time." Small tears ran over their conjoined hands, Hiei finally having stopped shaking. "I promised you that I wouldn't leave you without saying good-bye."

Hiei raised an eyebrow and asked, "What did you say?"

The silver kitsune opened his eyes and repeated, "I said that I had promised you that I wouldn't leave you without saying good-bye."

Hiei relaxed his clenched muscles a small part and scooted closer to the tearful fox. Carefully reaching out with his free hand, he tilted Kurama's chin up and said softly, "Look at me."

Kurama opened his eyes, tears still staining his face and he remained silent.

"How did you know about our promise?" Hiei asked searching the fox's face for anything to discredit him with.

"I made that promise with you. I'm not leaving you until I…"

"Stop! No more," Hiei cried as he cut his lover off and flung himself into the kitsune's arms. "Please don't leave me, Kurama. I don't want you to leave."

Chewing on his bottom lip, trying to hold in the tears he felt burning the backs of his eyes, Kurama clutched onto Hiei and nodded, not trusting his voice. Hiei buried his face in the fox's chest, smothering his own tears in Kurama's shirt.

"Don't ever say good-bye."

It was warm in the part of the cave where the hot spring was. Kurama had left Hiei where the small demon had been resting for three months. His love had collapsed from exhaustion, leaving Kurama to tend to himself until Hiei decided to wake up again. Since the kitsune had been worried about leaving his lover's unconscious side, he rarely had the time to bathe or feed himself. So, knowing Hiei was going to be alright and that he was alive, Kurama decided to feed himself, since he was a demon and could have gone another few months without eating, but he really enjoyed the meal. Afterwards, he wanted to take a bath.

Kurama smiled to himself when he thought about what had happened after he had killed Kuronue. When he had finished crying his eyes out when he discovered Hiei's body, the fox had heard a strange noise coming from the small demon. Being curious to see what it was, Kurama moved closer, but kept his distance, hoping he might be able to preserve the body and keep it forever. He hadn't known where that thought had come from, but a deep twisting in his chest made him gasp for breath when he thought about leaving the body to rot. He honestly knew that he would not be able to live without Hiei.

Not being able to tell what the noise was or where its origin was, Kurama had to kneel beside the bed to hear the soft thumping better. He thought with a cringe that it might have been some Makai bug or rat already feasting on the corpse. But it wasn't the right sound for the squeaks of an insect or the scratching of a rat. Twitching an ear, Kurama moved his head over Hiei's chest, eyes widening with every thump that went by. The thumping was Hiei's slow, unevenly spaced heartbeat.

The kitsune smiled to himself, slowly letting his legs and feet get used to the hot water. He remembered with that smile how happy he had been when he realized Hiei was alive. He was so happy he hadn't known what to do with the body, or where to put it. So, he began gathering anything he could find to transport Hiei's body out of the castle. But, even when he was ready to leave, Kurama didn't know where he and Hiei could go. The Ningenkai was out of the question. So, Kurama began searching for some sort of temporary home. When he had stumbled upon the cave he and Hiei had already occupied for three months, he didn't like the look or the smell of it. But upon further inspection, Kurama found some things about the cave he liked. It had many niches in it that he could call rooms, respectively. It had its own hot spring, which he was going to enjoy with Hiei sooner or later. Something else he found a little amazing about the cave was the somewhere within its tunnels, it opened up in to a huge underground forest. The ceiling of the cave was missing, so the plants and trees had sunlight. Kurama didn't like going there, though. In fact, he tried to avoid going anywhere near the place. Something didn't **feel** right about it.

The kitsune sighed as he waded further out into the hot water. The sound of foot falls made the fox's ears twitch, and he looked back just in time to see Hiei duck back into the hallway.

Kurama smiled and began to walk to the shore and he said, "I see you are awake."

Hiei shied away even more the closer Kurama got, though, and this made the kitsune stop. "What is wrong? Are you alright?"

The small demon's brow furrowed and he took smalls steps forward into the room. "I'm alright. I didn't want to disturb you, though."

The fox smiled and he said, "Not at all." And he made a sign at Hiei to come closer. "You're probably going to want to take a bath. You have been sleeping for about three months. I didn't want to disturb you myself."

Hiei nodded before he paced slowly over to where Kurama had disposed of his clothes and stared down at them. He felt eyes roam over him and a light blush that gradually grew darker stained his face. When he had woken up the first time, he hadn't noticed that his clothes were missing. '_That's right. Karasu took them from me,_" Hiei thought as he hesitantly bent down to pick up one of the garments lying on the floor. The small demon stared at the white material for a long time before he closed his eyes and buried his nose in the cloth. The garment didn't necessarily smell **bad**, but it needed to be washed. No doubt, Kurama had probably neither slept nor washed during those three months. It made Hiei feel guilty that he had caused such a thing.

A wet hand touched one of his own and Hiei slowly opened his eyes, not bothering to look up at Kurama.

"Are you alright?"

Hiei nodded and covered his tear stained face with the cloth he held. Two warm, wet arms wrapped around him and crushed him to a wet and warm stomach. Knowing that the fox couldn't see him, the small demon let his tear flow and to be soaked up by the material his face was covered up by. His shoulders shook, even though Hiei was trying his hardest to control himself, and the embrace he had been pulled into grew tighter.

"Please don't cry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Hiei gasped and pulled away, anger showing in his eyes along with shame. "It wasn't you who did this. Don't blame yourself!" With his eyes burning, Hiei closed them and said once more, "It's not your fault."

Kurama pulled him back again and remained silent. He stared at the top of his lover's head while the little demon sobbed into his shirt, which he still clutched firmly in a clenched fist. Hesitating only for a moment, the kitsune gently stroked the other demon's hair and wrapped his tail around Hiei's waist.

It felt as if forever had gone by before Hiei stopped shaking and trembling. His sniffling stopped and his river of tears had been dammed up. His breathing evened out and it felt like he had fallen asleep. Kurama sighed and made a move to pick his slumbering lover up and return him to the bedroom when a groggy voice asked: "What are you doing?"

Kurama pulled his shirt out of Hiei's grasp and let it fall back to the floor, and the two stared at each other. Dropping to his knees, the kitsune pulled his lover back into his embrace and rested his head on Hiei's shoulder.

"I thought you had fallen back asleep. I was going to take you back so that you could sleep."

Hiei stared past Kurama's shoulder and said, "I don't want to sleep anymore. I might not wake up next time."

Kurama sighed and pulled away from Hiei a bit and pressed their foreheads together. Hiei stared forward, his eyes out of focus and cloudy, like he had died with his eyes open. Biting his lower lip, the silver haired kitsune tentatively brushed his lips against Hiei's, not expecting a reaction. But, he received one. Hiei threw his arms around the fox's neck and pressed their lips together. Kurama was a bit shocked, but he didn't resist and carefully cupped the back of Hiei's head with his left hand.

Hiei whined in his throat, wanting his kitsune to make the kiss deeper, he himself not really knowing how to go about doing so. Kurama smirked inward when he heard such a noise come from his lover, and carefully prodded at the other demon's lips with his tongue. Hiei instantly gave admission to the silver kitsune and he moaned when he felt the fox's tongue slide across his own. The kiss didn't last long, not from lack of oxygen, but because Kurama felt that something wasn't quite right. It was obvious that Hiei enjoyed it when they kissed, but it didn't feel right when Hiei didn't participate.

Hiei blinked, his face stained red from embarrassment, and he asked after catching his breath, "Why did you stop?"

The kitsune reach up with a hand and caressed Hiei's blushing right cheek. "You aren't participating. I feel uncomfortable when you don't kiss me back."

The dark blush not diminishing in the least, Hiei murmured, "I don't know how to."

Not wanting to tease the little demon, the fox murmured back, "That's alright. You'll figure it out. I would teach you, but there is no real way to teach how to kiss back."

Hiei diverted his eyes away from Kurama and they softened with guilt. Kurama frowned and reached out to pull Hiei's head back so that he could look into the other demon's eyes. "What is wrong? You seem so…**distant** from me now. I feel like I can't reach you anymore."

Hiei looked away again, this time in shame. "After all that happened…you still want me here? You still want to touch me and look at me without feeling sick?"

Kurama nodded and hugged his small lover close again. "I'm sorry. I won't do anything to you again."

Hiei pulled away and said loudly, "No! That's not what I meant. I…" Here he paused and the lobes of his ears began to turn a bit pink before he said, "You can touch me if you want to…I just meant that I didn't know why you would want to. You don't know what kind of things he did to me…"

Kurama signed and he asked, "Didn't he tell you that I was there for some time?"

Hiei brought his eyes to look back upon the kitsune's face and he retorted, "No, Karasu mentioned that he had had you detained there for…almost a year, I think he said. But…I never though he would rape you."

Kurama huffed to himself, not wanting to seem as angry as he was. He wasn't angry at Hiei, he was angry at a lot of things. The things he could think of that could receive the blame for what had happened to him. ""No beauty goes un-tarnished or unwanted," a wise man once said. I believe his words now, though I did not when I first heard them. My beauty attracted Karasu's eye. Whatever he wanted, he took. He always had a particular liking for killing anything that stirred his interest. I did in too many ways for him to pass up. Hiei, I don't mean to sound self-fish or un-thoughtful, but whatever he did to you is nothing compared to what he did to me. But, he paid the ultimate price for it. Twice."

Hiei sighed and buried himself in the kitsune's arms once more. "I never would have thought that he did the same things to you as he did to me."

Kurama clutched onto his small lover and whispered softly, "Worse things than you could ever imagine. You probably couldn't fathom the ideas I had in my head sometimes during my stay. Horrible thoughts, Hiei. Some even I flinch at the memory of."

Hiei's eyes fluttered and he let out a long puff of air. "There's still something I don't understand. Why was it when I was in that whore house that I never received any customers?"

"It was because I threatened Toguro with his worst nightmare if he dared to let anyone lay a rotten hand on you. There is fate worse than death, Hiei. I was willing to let Toguro have a taste of it if any harm came to you," Kurama said, his voice dripping with venom at the thought of a filthy human hand touching **his** love.

Hiei nuzzled the fox's shoulder and mumbled, "You'd turn into the most evil creature on the face of this planet for me?"

Lifting his face up, bringing Hiei closer, their lips almost brushing against each other's when the fix spoke, Kurama replied, "I'd kill everyone on this planet for you. I would do anything, go anywhere, be anything you wanted me to be, Hiei. I would do it without a second thought."

Hiei stared, eyes wide, and asked, "Why? Why would you do that?"

The edges of the fox demon's lips twitched and he leaned in closer, pressing a quick kiss to his lover's lips before he whispered, "Because I love you."

Hiei's eyes widened once more as his and Kurama's lips met again. The smaller demon slowly closed he eyes and wrapped his arms around the kitsune's neck. Upon feeling the fox's tongue slide along his bottom lip, the small demon opened his mouth for his lover, and the fox's tongue met his again. Hiei's eyes twitched once before he shyly slide his tongue along that of the other in his mouth. The only warning Hiei received before he was pushed to the floor and a heavy weight was laid upon him was a deep growl in Kurama's throat.

The kitsune pulled away from the kiss and scooted down some to suck and bite on Hiei's neck. Hiei himself lay staring up at the ceiling, panting from what had happened. He turned his head to one side as to give the silver haired male more room. The small demon groaned and mewled from the soft nipping and bruising suckling.

Hiei sealed his eyes shut tight, tears being squeezed from his eyes. He felt great fear in the pit of his stomach, but he was unwilling to give into it. Biting his bottom lip, Hiei arched his back off of the ground when his silver lover lapped at one of his nipples. A sweat had broken out on Hiei's forehead, and it grew heavier when he felt Kurama take the small nub into his mouth and nip at it gently with one of his canines.

"Don't bite me," Hiei whispered, a single tear coursing down his face.

Ears twitching, Kurama looked up, rising off of his lover and replied softly, "I won't if you don't want me to." Then, he noticed the sweat and tears on Hiei's face. Almost jumping back as if he had been burned, Kurama exclaimed, "Hiei, I'm sorry. Did I do something wrong? I won't do that anymore."

Hiei shook his head and pushed himself up with his elbows. A dark blush still stained his breath taking face, and Kurama sighed happily. "_How lucky I am to be here with him. I wish he would be all mine,"_ the kitsune thought.

Pushing himself up further, Hiei slowly crawled over to Kurama and sat in front of him. Kurama reached forward with a hesitant hand and gently brushed it against Hiei's cheek. "Have I frightened you?" Kurama asked, not really knowing what to say.

Hiei shook his head once, then softly leaned into Kurama's touch. Reaching up to tenderly cover his lover's larger hand with his own smaller one. "When will you stop worrying about whether or not I like what you do to me?" He paused there and slowly gazed up at the solemn golden eyes staring at him and asked in almost a whisper, "Won't you make love to me and claim me for yourself?"

Kurama's ears perked up and his tail gave a quick shake, excited that Hiei would open himself to such a thing. Pulling his hand away from his small lover's face and grasping the small hand that had covered his, Kurama asked softly, "Would you like to be with me forever? Would you let me take care of you?"

Hiei diverted his eyes away from Kurama's and nodded. He was nervous, never having previously had truly consensual sex with another person before. Squeezing his eyes shut and then opening them once Hiei thought they were clear, he looked back up to Kurama and asked, "Could you take me back home for just a few hours? I need to…tie up some loose ends."

Kurama stared at Hiei for only a few seconds after the request, trying to see within his lover's eyes the reason behind the request. Hiei's eyes not giving the kitsune any clues, the fox demon sighed and said, "I'll take you back but only for a while. I don't want someone to take advantage of you when you are still so weak. Do you understand?" Hiei nodded his head, eager to start.

It was raining and nighttime in Ningenkai when Hiei touched down on the dirty windowsill outside of Yuusuke's bedroom. The young man had fallen asleep at a desk, papers strewn about the wood. Hiei didn't bother to try and read what they said.

Reaching up with the back of his hand, Hiei gently caressed the wet glass and murmured, "I'm sorry, Yuusuke." Lightning flashes behind him, and when the light dimmed down, Hiei was gone, and Yuusuke was staring at the window.

"Hiei…"

It was morning, and Hiei had slept in a tree in a cemetery for the night, though Kurama would have scolded him for it. With the sun peaking over the horizon, Hiei sat up from his resting place and stretched his cramped muscles. After seeing Yuusuke for the last time, he had to go and find Julia and tell the man that he was sorry for being so cold.

Preparing to take off, Hiei stopped when he heard the rustling of leaves below him. Looking down, he saw a figure wrapped in a jacket stare sorrowful at a grave. Raising an eyebrow, Hiei crouched down on his branch, making sure to hide himself, and watched the figure closely. The human had long, black hair, the rising sun giving it a bluish tint, and the eyes were a cobalt blue. They were watery and a little blood shot from lack of sleep.

Taken aback, Hiei whispered to himself, "Julia."

Hearing his name, Julia looked around, tucking a stray lock of hair behind an ear. Not seeing anyone, Julia stared back down at the grave and whispered to himself, and eyes beginning to flood with tears again, "Subaru 3….I wish you were here…."

Jumping down silently, Hiei leaned on the trunk of the tree, a mere breath from Julia. If he had reached out to the man, Julia would have seen him.

"Are you ready to come home yet?"

The deep voice whispering in his ear made Hiei twist the heel of his left foot into the foliage beneath him, and a twig snapped.

Julia looked up, his eyes still red from his tears, and he said, "Who's there?"

Hiei narrowed his eyes, angry that Kurama had made Julia realize that someone was watching him. Sighing, Hiei nodded and murmured, "Let's go. There's nothing left for me here."

Kurama nodded and turned around to follow his lover back home, when something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was Julia. Julia, not understanding what was going on, was shivering with fright. He had never seen a demon before.

Shrugging, Kurama turned his head back around and followed Hiei into the cover of the forest, and they both silently walked back home.

Plopping down on the bed, Hiei let himself fall backwards with a sigh. Julia had fallen apart because of that human. That human that had taken him away from the house. Closing his eyes, Hiei turned on his left side and snuggled into the soft bedding he wanted to fall asleep on. "_This won't happen to me….will it?"_ he thought.

The area around him sank in, and Hiei opened his eyes to stare straight ahead, not needing to look to know that Kurama loomed above him. Rolling onto his back, Hiei stared up at the silent kitsune that he wanted to share the rest of his life with. Reaching above him, Hiei carefully caressed the silver fox's cheek. Smiling, Kurama grasped Hiei's small wrist in his hand and gently pinned it to the bed above Hiei's head. Grabbing the other one, Kurama held them both in one hand and stared down to marvel at his lover.

Blushing, Hiei asked, "Are you going to sit on me and stare all day?"

Smiling brighter, Kurama bent over his lover and brushed his lips against Hiei's right cheek.

"Why? Is there something else you had in mind?"

The blush on his face extended to the lobes of his ears as Hiei nodded.

Blowing on the pink tinted ears, the kitsune asked quietly, "What? What do you want?"

Biting on his lower lip, not really knowing how to ask, Hiei mumbled, "I want to be yours. However you want to do that is fine, but please let me be yours."

Brushing Hiei's bangs away from his face, Kurama stared at his lover's face, wishing that the little demon weren't so shy.

"Make love to you? Is that what you want me to do?"

Hiei's blush growing darker, he nodded his head furiously, embarrassed at what was being said, and he replied, "Yes, yes! I want you to make love to me. Please!"

Nodding, Kurama leaned over and kissed his lover's cheek again before he whispered into the blushing demon's ear, "Alright, Hiei. That's all you had to say."

Trying to hide his face from Kurama's teasing eyes, Hiei tried to roll over, but he was reminded of the weight atop him when his hips wouldn't budge. Hiei squeezed his eyes shut when he finally noticed the weight on him, and he struggled against Kurama's hold on his wrists.

"Kurama, wait."

Releasing Hiei's wrists, Kurama asked softly, ready to get off of the little demon beneath him at a moment's notice, "What's wrong?"

Pushing himself up the best he could, Hiei asked, "Please go slow. I've…I've never felt or done anything like this before. I've never had sex with someone where I wanted it to." Glancing at the kitsune from underneath his bangs, Hiei was surprised to see the kitsune did not look angry or disappointed. Lifting his head, Hiei pleaded, "Please go slow for me, Kurama. I won't ask for anything else, I promise. I…" But Hiei never could finish what he wanted to saw and two strong arms drew him to a sturdy chest.

"Hush, Hiei. We can wait if you want to. We don't have to do this right now," Kurama said, carefully stroking the little demon's back, noticing the shaking shoulders he held.

Hiei shook his head and pushed himself out of Kurama's arms.

"No! I'm tired of waiting. I knew that we were meant to be together when you promised to never leave me without saying goodbye. Please Kurama, I'm only asking you to go slow. I want this. I've never felt this kind of desire before, but I trust you to show me how to deal with it." Grasping a clawed hand in his won, Hiei asked with love shining in his eyes, "Please, I don't know why I want this so badly, but I know I can trust you. I want you to do this with me."

Kurama nodded and carefully drew Hiei back into his arms. "You can trust me, Hiei. I promise to go slow for you. I'll do whatever you want."

Nodding, the smaller demon relaxed into his lovers hold and resisted the shutter he felt run down his spine and he felt large hands begin to undress him. First, his shirt was taken off of him, Hiei having to raise his arms above his head so that Kurama could take it off. Then, he was ushered out of his pants.

Kurama pushed Hiei onto his back, and the red blush that had stained his face returned full force. Feeling shameful of the thoughts that gave birth to the red on his cheeks, Hiei threw an arm over his face to hide the blush.

Chuckling Kurama pulled Hiei's arm away from his face and asked, "Why are you hiding you face from me? Are you ashamed of your own body?"

Shaking his head at first, Hiei paused and then nodded, not really knowing how to answer his lover's question.

Nodding to himself, Kurama planted little kisses all over Hiei's face, the last one ending softly on the little demon's lips.

The hot ball in Hiei's lower body grew hotter as he felt the silver kitsune's lips on his. Not wanting the fox to pull away, Hiei quickly threw his arms around Kurama's neck and held him there.

Kurama froze, not knowing what Hiei wanted him to do. Pulling away, the silver fox stared at his lover and Hiei whispered, "Please don't stop." Nodding, Kurama lowered his head again and softly pressed their lips together.

Hiei squeezed his eyes shut, taking notice of how much different Kurama's old body was to the one he had occupied for hundreds of years after being killed. The fox demon's entire body was different. His hands were larger, his chest was wider, his face was longer, eyes narrower, lips thicker, and many more things Hiei couldn't describe. It scared the little demon; the changes couldn't have been that great, but they were. It was unexpected.

When he felt his lover's tongue slid across his own lips, asking for entrance, Hiei hesitantly gave it. He and the more humanoid Kurama had never kissed him this way 4, so Hiei wouldn't have been able to tell if there was any difference between their mouths.

Hiei winced when the silver kitsune's tongue lapped at his own for the first time. His father had forced this on him, and he had never liked it. "_This is **not** father. This is Kurama, he's not like father,"_ Hiei thought and his arms fell from around Kurama's neck.

Suddenly pulling away, Kurama stared at Hiei for a long time, concern knotting his brows. Hiei was far too tense for him to be enjoying the slow foreplay Kurama hadn't even started. Something was wrong, but Hiei was willing to admit that he was scared.

Softly caressing his lover's burning cheek, Kurama asked, "Should we wait? You are obviously afraid of me." Hiei's eyes widened and he sat up and asked, "I'm afraid?"

Kurama remained silent a moment before he carefully picked up one of Hiei's sweating, trembling hands and showed it to the little demon. Hiei stared at his own hand for a long time, not knowing what to say. Shutting his eyes softly, Hiei laid back down on the bed, turning his head away so that he didn't have to look at his lover.

"I'm sorry, Kurama. It's not your fault," Hiei whispered, his skin suddenly coming alive with chills at the sound of his own voice. He had never heard himself sound so sorrowful before. At least, not out loud.

"Don't be sorry," Kurama whispered as he lowered himself to lay his head on his lover's small chest. Small hands reached up slowly and petted at his hair, and Kurama leaned into Hiei's hands while a small smile lit across his face.

"We have more than enough time," Kurama murmured grasping one of Hiei's small hands in his own. He brought the small hands up to his lips and placed a small kiss on the back of it.

"I love you, my kitsune," Hiei's cracking voice said softly.

Kurama lifted his head up and looked solemnly at his lover, watching the small tears fall down his face. Reaching up to Hiei, the fox carefully wiped away the tears with gentle fingers. He didn't need to say anything, for he knew that Hiei had never felt anything like love before. It was new to him, and he didn't know how to deal with it. Smiling softly, Kurama scooted up to lie next to Hiei and he carefully gathered the small demon in his arms, letting him cry.

A/n: Blah. Finally! The end. Sorry, I promised some sex, but I just couldn't write it. Besides, this chapter was more about support and love than sex. It was something deeper than that. But god, how many pages is that sucker? 11? 12? Wow….I think this is the longest chapter I've every written….Holy crap! But yea, just envision them having nice, hot sex after Hiei gets over himself. muah But I made Youko cuddly in this story. Always like some cuddly Youko-ness in the story. Okay…..foot notes.

EDIT: Okay…I edited this, and I was thinking, "Okay, what the hell was I smokin'?" I can see Youko now. Rubbin' his forehead, sittin' on his bed with Hiei and tellin' the poor, little guy, "Okay, dude, I'm horny as hell. Do you want me to fuck you, or not? Yes, or no? I can go find some **other** whore to fuck for about five minutes. Now, either turn around and spread 'em, or go to hell!"

1: Kinda sappy, but oh well. Youko was sappy, boo-hoo.

2: Think of a Husky. Loud little mothers….

3: The name of the man that bought Julia in…chapter whatever…I'm too lazy right now to go back and look.

4: Don't quote me on that. Again, I'm too lazy to go back and look. If human Kurama ever gave Hiei some tongue, whoopee.

Bye bye!


End file.
